Jenny the ShadowMan Hunter
by ZombieVampireAuthor
Summary: Jenny is only 13 when the accident happens-when she becomes trapped in some kind of dimensional box with a very young and curious Shadow Man. Her Grandfather had trained her for several years, but nothing could prepare her for Julian. Now she has to figure out how to get back home-alive-without falling for his tricks. But soon Jenny begins to fear if she will still WANT to go home.
1. Chapter 1

There was a shout, then the darkness snatched Jenny right off her feet.

The whole atmosphere was throbbing, quick at first, like a racing heart beat. It pulsed in the air, the ground, in the entire world. Jenny was very aware of it, floating in the darkness, feeling each pulse match her own. Slowly, it began to fade. The concentration of each throb lessened with each passing minute, fading from the sky, down passed the walls, all the way to Jenny's body alone. It resided in her head at last, weighing it down like a ton. It was the worst migraine she ever felt in all her thirteen years of living.

Jenny finally opened her eyes, groaning at the pain in her temples, but all she saw was black. She felt herself lying on some floor, but all the lights must've been turned off because she couldn't see anything but shadows. No, that wasn't right.

She sat up quickly-too quickly actually, and she leaned back down, resting on her elbow when her skull felt like it was going to split open. She ran a hand across the black ground and felt….nothing. No, there was something there, but it wasn't real. It couldn't be. She felt the force she was laying on, some sort of density holding her up, but it wasn't solid. It felt weightless underneath, as if she was on a slab of shadows suspended in the air.

Looking up, Jenny saw the same thing in front of her, as if the same structure under her had stretched up, creating a wall. She immediately touched that as well, feeling the pressure of some unseen force, nothing at all like a solid wall. What was more frightening than that realization was the fact that she could see _through_ the wall. She didn't know how, she didn't know why, but she could see something moving beyond the wall. Something intangible, like smoke or fog, all entirely black, swirling and drifting off from a very far distance away.

She sat up now, fear taking over the pain in her head. No. No. This wasn't right. She was just in the basement. How did this happen? Where was her grandfather? Where were the _Shadowmen_?

She tried to stand up, but her legs felt too weak. She had to use the wall as support, but God it felt as fragile as ice under fingers. She was too afraid to put all of her weight on it, as if the wall of shadows would shatter and she would go falling into the abyss. And she didn't want that. Anything but that.

She felt herself hyperventilating, her pulse beginning to race, air beginning to shrink around her-God, what if there was only a limited amount of air in here? She'd suffocate. She'd _die._

A strike of pain on her thumb seemed to center herself again. The metal ring around her thumb had the center latch open, revealing the tiny sharp edge, much like a blade. Had it fell open, or did she cut herself she didn't know, but she was thankful for the cut on her index finger all the same. She was able to focus on the tiny drop of blood-her blood. She was still alive. Right now, wherever the hell she was, she was fine. She knew more than the common person. She'd make it out of here. She just had to focus.

"Well."

And just like that, the fear was back.

Jenny spun around, cursing herself for not even bothering to look behind her when she first woke up, and there stood a boy. No, he wasn't a boy. He couldn't be. If she was just in her basement, then something had gone wrong-with the Shadowmen. They didn't deal with anything but Shadowmen. So he couldn't be a human boy, nor any other type of demon.

But Jenny had never seen one in front of her. And her grandfather had never mentioned the fact that they were impossibly _beautiful_.

This "boy" was about her size, resembling maybe a few years older than her. His hair was as white as milk-no, it reminded her of freshly fallen snow, so soft and fluffy to the eye, a stark contrast against the endless black background. He was wearing a white T-shirt that seemed to be a size two small because it hugged against his skin to the point where Jenny could see the muscles of his abdomen. The pants were straight black, made out of some smooth material, maybe stretchable cotton or something, because there wasn't a single wrinkle in them, blending in with the shadows, as if he was apart of them. Well, technically he was.

But the thing that shocked Jenny the most was his eyes. No one had eyes that color, so blue, bluer than anything she had ever seen. She was staring into them, the only spot of color in this monochromatic picture before her, so intently that she almost missed the smirk that pulled onto his lips-Almost.

"Hello." Maybe it was because of the migraine, but his voice was elemental, a mystical tone that had to be anything but human. Jenny was immediately intrigued, but the way he said it, like a predator would to its trapped prey, made her instincts come back to her.

She back peddled, but didn't get far. Her back bumped the imaginary wall, then she stepped away from it, afraid that it would disappear and she'd walk right off the edge of whatever force she was on. The "boy" merely tilted his head to the side, watching her with such an intense gaze. He was only a few feet away, hands behind his back, smiling at her. He looked fascinated with her, those impossible blue eyes roaming over ever inch of her, like he was finding something new about her with every second-like she was something he had never seen before, which Jenny knew was a lie.

She stared right back at him, and although his presence was as unsettling as the short distance between them, she stood her ground, unblinking, unmoving. He seemed to find something humorous about that, because his smile widened in amusement and took a step toward her.

Jenny immediately held out her hand, where the old scar sat on her palm, one in a symbol of protection. "S-Stay away," she said, and it came out nowhere near as strong as she hoped. Her stuttering even seemed to echo slightly back at her, like it had faded beyond the walls and the darkness beyond them had sucked the sound right out of the words. "You can't touch me. Not without permission. And there's _no_ way I'm giving that to something like you." That sounded better. Stronger.

The boy stopped, but his smile didn't even falter. He gazed at her for a minute longer, then continued forward. He was only two steps away when Jenny's stomach jumped up into her chest. She shouted something in an instant, sharply, with a quick wave of her finger. It was some sort of rune that the Egyptian's used way back in the Dark Ages to prevent evil spirits from possessing their souls on the way to the afterlife. Her grandfather had shown it her, out of the many things he had taught her, and surprisingly, it worked.

There was some kind of throb, like a spark in the air, and the boy fell back. Shock registered on his face and he held onto his chest, as if he had been injured. The throb faded into the walls, quivering through the shadow-like substance and off into the vast space behind them. It was then, watching the walls waver behind the boy, that Jenny realized they were in some kind of box. Unable to see their limits but feeling them there. God, it must be what a goldfish feels like in its tank.

The boy gazed at her with a new intensity now, almost like he was offended by the attack. Jenny felt her pulse racing in her neck, bordering on painful. In the pause, she quickly dragged the sharp edge from her ring across her palm, reopening the symbol of protection on her hand. She never liked the pain. She hated it actually, but it was like ripping off a band-aid, after the first prick, the first strike, she was able to deal with it. Her grandfather had also taught her that. He had taught her everything he knew.

Once she finished, she held her palm up again, hissing at heated pain radiating from her open flesh. "You can't touch me," she said again, and she had to clear her throat after from how small that sounded.

The boy merely stared at her again, this time a bit of confusion washing over his face. It was when he seemed to be watching the blood roll down her wrist that he settled into something Jenny could not read. "No," he said slowly, "it seems that I can't."

Jenny didn't know what was so funny about that because that smirk returned, seeming more playful than before. His voice didn't fade like Jenny's did. Instead, it seemed to fill up their imaginary room, taking up all the air until it surrounded Jenny in an otherworldly tone.

"What's your name?"

Jenny only scowled at him. She never faced a Shadowman before. Never saw one before, or heard one talk. She had only heard the tales, was only prepared for them. Her grandfather had always said he hoped she never had to. Physical tactics were useless; That's why Jenny never did any physical training. The only reason her grandfather even introduced her to the hunting ways was because Jenny had a strong will. He said her mind was strong and brilliant and that's what would protect her, that would be her best weapon, because that was the Shadow man's main target-the mind, the sanity of a person.

So Jenny immediately refused his attention. She pulled her focus away from his beauty, from his elemental voice, and to herself, to the pain throbbing in her hand, and the ache in her temples. She was terrified, yes, being face to face with something inhuman, but she be damned if she showed it.

"You're a Shadowman," she snapped. "Aren't you?"

Those eyes widened just a bit, that blue flashing at her like icicles under a barrier of snow, but the boy didn't answer.

Jenny continued. She kept her chin up, desperately trying to keep her breathing steady. "I know what you do. I don't know…w-what you did, but I'm going to get out of here, and you- **You** are staying right there."

Something flashed in those eyes again, something much darker, like a challenge. He moved closer to her. "Make me," he snapped, voice coming out much harsher now.

Jenny shouted the rune again, but the boy merely flicked his hand and the unseen force struck the wall, bending the shadows of the wall back as if it was made of jelly before snapping back into place. The power died almost instantly.

Jenny's stomach coiled. He, she thought weakly, he deflected it….

The smile came back. "Your powers are weak here. You can't _kill_ me with something as pitiful as Egyptian indications."

"And you can't kill _me_ without the right," Jenny snapped back. Her arm had gotten tired, so she pulled it back to herself, holding her bloody wrist but keeping the palm open. "I'm not stupid."

"Oh, I know that." The boy's hands returned behind his back and he walked to the side, up to the invisible wall before them. Jenny walked to the opposite wall, keeping as much distance as she could with him although this box had its limits. "Any other mortal would be screaming for help, banging on the barrier… **begging**." His eyes flickered to her on the last word, seeming as blue as the deepest part of the Atlantic ocean. "Not using runes against _something like me_."

The mockery was almost hissed at her, pronouncing the effect of insult clearly. Jenny had to move some of her hair out of the way. Jenny was considering what she should say, if she should say anything back at all, when he added, "Tell me, if you're so brilliant, where are you?"

Now Jenny had no idea what to say. Where was she? Hell, she hardly knew that. She wasn't on Earth anymore, that was something she had to accept. Her grandfather had mentioned the other realms to her, but this…this didn't seem like a solid place at all. Her first guess, and her greatest fear, was that she had somehow landed in the Shadow World. But her grandfather had predicted something other than this. And if she was in the Shadow World, she wouldn't be standing here, in this unearthly box of shadows with a Shadow Man himself. She would be…trapped in a toy, forced to suffer endless loneliness with her insides made of stuffing-forced to solve a riddle that would end up killing her even if she got it right-she'd be in some sort of insanity-driving, death-seeking trap.

Unless, this _was_ the trap….

Jenny immediately clenched her hand, striking pain in her tender palm to bring her back. No, she wasn't. Calm down. She'd be dead by now, wouldn't she? She had to think.

The last thing she remembered…was the basement. Her grandfather was at that door. Jenny couldn't remember what he was doing, but he had commanded her to stay back. Right, then something went wrong. There was a flash of light, and her grandfather was screaming. Jenny had wanted to help-she tried-then she woke up here.

The sickening feeling of dread started to swell up in Jenny's chest. Carefully, she looked up. There wasn't even a visible sign of the barrier acting as a ceiling. It was just the shadows, the black smoke resembling the endless distance of some otherworldly place. Where… _was_ she?

"Do you give up?" The boy asked, and when Jenny looked back, he had an eyebrow arched in a tease. "Not even a guess?"

"Screw you," she said, but it came out quiet, weak. She dropped her hand and backed herself into the corner, her skirt just barely brushing the force of the wall behind her. "Do _you_ know where we are?"

"Of course I do," he said haughtily with a shrug of his shoulders. "I know this place a lot better than you do. You can thank your worthless trainer for that."

Jenny was struck with confusion immediately, especially when the boy put his back to her, walking toward the back wall. There was a massive rip in the back of his T-shirt, exposing such pale skin underneath. "Wait. You mean my grandfather?"

"Do I?" he asked, spinning back on his heels. Those blue eyes were wide now, anticipating something Jenny knew she should fear. Then he asked, "Would you like a hint?"

Curiosity struck Jenny, then a hint of shame. This is exactly what her grandfather told her about. The tricks, the games. So Jenny didn't answer the Shadow man. She immediately put her back to him, crossing her arms across her chest. It was probably a terrible idea to leave her backside exposed to such a demon, but he couldn't touch her. Even if this was his trap, his doing. He still needed permission. At least…Jenny prayed that he did.

He said something else, but Jenny ignored it. She couldn't play his game. She had to get out. Think, Jenny, _think_.

She dropped to her knees, placing her bloody hand on the unseen ground. She had thought of testing the barrier out at first, but when her blood soaked through the shadows, sinking down and then dropping off, disappearing into the blackness under her, she was glad she did. So she really wasn't anywhere solid. She was trapped, that was for sure, but then that meant that this Shadowman was also trapped. She was starting to piece it together until the pain in her temples throbbed, piercing through her mind like a very long needle. She grabbed her head in agony, sitting back on her heels.

Her elbow brushed something solid and cold at the same time she heard, "It's rude to ignore people, you know."

Jenny didn't mean to cry out, but the touch felt like electricity, shocking her. She jumped away, practically falling into the wall at the sight of the boy mere inches from her. He had her cornered-not touching her, but getting so close that _she_ touched him. She had brushed his leg. Shit. _Shit_.

Her heart was hammering in her chest, at the sudden erase of distance, and Jenny just knew she had to look away from those eyes. They were like sapphires, Jenny realized, so beautiful, so raw in color in this place. She couldn't stop staring at them. She had to look away. She had touched him. He could-

No, he couldn't. If he was in the same position as she was, then he had no rights here. He couldn't do _anything_. So Jenny took a deep breath and jumped passed him, turning her body sideways in order to slip through the thin space she had without touching him.

The boy turned after her, eyes never leaving hers for a second, and watched as she stumbled away from him. She fixed her skirt and her honey hair as if she wasn't panicking inside. She did something else, something very small, that he still caught all the same. Jenny gave her elbow a small, anxious brush, making his eyes flicker from her elbow, back to her.

"It doesn't matter where we are," Jenny said, hearing herself before she even realized she was speaking. "My grandfather will find me and get me out."

The boy chuckled at that, and Jenny found it strangely charming-which she cursed herself for. "Will he?"

"Yes."

"Oh, I don't think so."

Jenny started to process that-to get offended somehow, then gave a groan and covered her ears. She put her back to the Shadow Man once again, refusing to listen. She had to stop listening otherwise he'd trick her into doing something stupid and kill her. That's all he wanted anyway, just to kill her.

Yet, that mystical voice, like water over rocks, came slipping through her fingers.

"Nature is my mother

But inside I live

You walk right through me either way

Though I be three inches thick."

The riddle instantly confused Jenny. She never was good at things like that. What could you possibly walk through that was solid? What came from nature, but lived indoors?

Indoors _._ In _doors_.

Oh, duh.

Doors were everything with runes. To travel between the realms, you needed a solid door and the runes in order to act as a portal. In order to trap the Shadow Men in her grandfather's basement, they had used a door-the closet door behind the third bookshelf-

-the same door that Jenny had last seen before something went wrong-before she jumped in to help.

Slowly, Jenny turned back around, her hands falling from her ears as the realization made something hot and thick rise in her throat. The boy hadn't moved from his spot. He didn't seem so pleased now that Jenny had realized what he was talking about. "Understand now, Little Hunter? Your grandfather can't set you free, without releasing me as well."

Jenny suddenly felt very dizzy. She had to swallow whatever was threatening to come up, and she shook her head. "No. You're lying. How did that…." She gave the place a vast look around her, trying so hard to see passed the black fog outside their barrier. "Where are the others?"

The boy gazed out the same wall Jenny did, separated by the only few feet that consisted of their cage. "Imagine it like this," he said simply and a single finger pointed to the ceiling that didn't exist. "A hole opened up from above. My Ancestors jumped out, and you fell in. Then it closed." His hand slapped back at his side, a little frustrated. "Happened in a matter of seconds, really. Was expecting that old man to land in here." His gaze flickered over his shoulder to her, eyes at piercing her like icicles. "Not you."

Jenny didn't know how to react. It couldn't be true, but it made sense. Whatever had gone wrong, if the containment on the door broke, then she basically switched places with the other Shadow Men. But wait, wasn't it a life for a life? She only switched with one, not a dozen. And she knew for a fact that her grandfather had over a dozen in there. Now it was just the two of them in here. There was no way…

Unless her grandfather had closed it back up. If he got the other Shadow Men in another containment, and closed this one the second it opened. But how could she physically be here? It was for souls, for demons, not _people_.

A lot of time had passed when Jenny returned from her thoughts, and she found her arms around herself, looking down at the shadows that made-up the floor under her feet. Seeing the endless space under her made her nauseous, but she wouldn't throw up. She couldn't. Not if she passed out first.

"You can call me Julian."

Jenny's gaze shot up, almost forgetting the boy was still a mere six feet from her, and she gasped. The boy, Julian, was sitting down in an armchair. Like one her grandfather had, cushioned and a vicious crimson red. It looked like velvet, with gold buttons on the arms. With nothing but black behind him, the young Shadow Man looked like he was practically glowing.

He waved his arms out to show the chair off, finishing by letting them run down the arms, and the smile he wore was so smug and proud. He drank in Jenny's shocked reaction, probably stoking his ego, that, Jenny was starting to guess, was pretty massive.

"Julian?" She repeated and something sparked in those sapphire eyes. The Shadow Man even gave a small hum of approval, as if hearing her call his name was bliss. "Shadow Men don't have names."

Julian gave her a shrug. "We have titles," he said more like a suggestion that a statement. "When we play games, we take the role of someone else, and we can call ourselves whatever we want. Which brings me back to my first question-" He sat up on his elbows, gaze directed up at her. "What is your name?"

Jenny debated for a good while whether or not she should respond. She was pretty good at ignoring people when she wanted to. It worked on Tom quite a bit-

Oh, _Tom_.

The horrible realization of never seeing him again-or her parents or her grandfather or anyone started to grow in her chest like a heavy weight. Would she die in here? Trapped in here until she went insane? How long? How _long_?

The fear from that was too much. It actually hurt-Jenny had to grab her chest at the tightness that began to fill between her lungs. It actually hurt to think of that. She didn't want it. She didn't want to think about that-or the pain-or anything really.

She felt the heat from her hand, throbbing with her pulse at the fresh wound, but she was unable to irritate it further to calm herself down in fear of only increasing this feeling in her chest. Instead, she turned her attention up, to the boy sitting like it was the most casual thing in the world across from her in this endless place.

What better distraction than this unearthly boy before her?

"Why-" She had to swallow once more to get her voice back. "Why should I tell you my name?"

"Well, this conversation would get rather dull if I didn't know your name."

Jenny tried to fake a scowl. She was still hugging herself, standing firmly in front of him with nothing but shadows surrounding them. "What makes you think I want to have a conversation with you?" suddenly she snapped," You're _evil_! You're a Shadow man. We don't do this-don't go together-We're not going to get along. This-This is stupid- _I'm_ not stupid. I'm not going to fall for your tricks."

Julian sat back in his chair now and tilted his head to the side. His gaze flickered down her body once, then straight back up to her eyes. "Would you rather we sit here in silence? Where's the fun in that?"

Jenny gave him a true scoff and looked away, off into the shadows outside their container. She heard him chuckle and she crossed her arms in front of her, hissing at the wound on her hand. "When will you get this chance again, to sit down with a Shadow Man for a casual conversation with him unable to kill you, hm?"

Jenny actually stopped to consider that. It was true that this opportunity would never happen again, but she couldn't trust him. He could try and convince her to feel sorry for him and she'll let her guard down and he'll-

But he couldn't touch her. If they were truly trapped in here. Trapped in the cage behind the bookshelf door, then he couldn't pull any tricks on her. Not any that would kill her anyway. Magic was possible here, if just a bit, but nothing like a Shadow man's true power. Jenny had to believe that. She did.

But she wasn't taking any chances.

So she took a step toward the demon in the chair and said, "Swear to me."

Julian's eyebrows pinched slightly together in confusion. "For what?"

Jenny made the symbol in the air, one like a vase on its side; Pethro, the rune of gambling. "Swear to me, on Pethro, that you will not hurt me or try to kill me. No tricks. No games to try and get permission to hurt me. Just a conversation-Swear, it's just a conversation. No tricks."

Julian took a minute to ponder it and he even looked away from her, resting his chin on the back of his fingers, elbow perched on the arm of his chair. Then, slowly, the smile crawled back onto his lips. "I swear to play nicely."

"No, say it right," Jenny snapped. "I'm not stupid. Say it exactly."

"Or what?" He asked, still with a smile. He sounded much more entertained in her answer than offended.

"Or I'll ignore you, and we can both die of boredom."

Julian barked a laugh, reminding Jenny of a dam bursting at how light his voice was. But still, Julian traced the symbol in the air, saying clearly, "I swear to play no tricks on you with the intention of harming you or killing you so long as I exist." His hand dropped and he sat forward again, those blue pools glimmering a deep indigo at the moment.

The migraine came back like a slap to the face and Jenny heaved a sigh of pain. Well, there couldn't be any loopholes around that, could there? Couldn't touch her, couldn't try and get permission to kill her. Just a conversation. There was no harm in talking….right? So long as she didn't end up feeling sorry for him, or worse, feeling comfortable around him.

Yeah, right.

Julian's gaze flickered behind Jenny, to something right passed her legs, so Jenny glanced to look. She really shouldn't have been surprised to find a chair there. It was entirely different then his chair. This chair was like one you'd find in a higher-class dining room, with tall legs and a white cushioned seat. The arms were wooden, but with the same white material on top. The edges were lined with gold.

Seeing it made Jenny realize how exhausted she was. Sitting down sounded like a great idea, but for some reason she….felt like she couldn't. The pain in her temples prevented her from remembering why.

After a long, shaky breath, Jenny finally said, "My name's Jenny."

"I know. It's utterly _gorgeous_."

Jenny immediately flinched-first of all at the fact that he knew, and second because of the compliment. "Wait, what?" She couldn't tell by Julian's smirk if he was playing with her or if he was serious and enjoying her reaction. Something told her it was the latter. "If you knew, then why bother asking me?"

"Because then I wouldn't be able to make your eyes gleam as they did just now. It's fascinating, really."

Jenny ignored that. She really had to force herself to, but she did. "How'd you know my name?" She asked sharply. "Shadow Men can't read minds."

Julian gave a chuckle and sat back in his chair, even crossed his legs like some kind of gentleman. All he needed was a suit and a monocle and he'd be perfect for some rich magazine cover. "There are a lot of things you, nor your relative, know about Shadow Men."

Jenny didn't believe that. Well, sure there were things missing, like the whole Shadow Men being beautiful thing. Her grandfather was only human after all, but he knew _basically_ everything. "Like what?" She tried to make her voice sound dull, almost bored, and unconvinced, but there was a slight hint of curiosity in there that she couldn't hide. " _Besides_ popping chairs out of nowhere."

Julian cocked his head to the side, just the slightest bit, and it made every feature in his face stand out. "Why should I tell you?"

"You were the one who wanted to talk."

"Not about me."

It was feeling herself react, the change in her face, and seeing the satisfaction in the shadow demon's eyes that Jenny realized what was happening. Rune or not, with or without rules, they were still playing a game. He was still tricking her, subtly, with just his words, to get a rouse out of her. It was her reactions, he even said so himself.

So Jenny made a promise to herself. She may not be able to fight him or win at whatever stupid tricks he had planned for her, but if anything, she could one-up him with her reactions. And she was going to be as dull and dreary as physically possible.

"What, about me then?"

"Oh, yes. You are….enchanting."

Jenny gave her eyes a roll. "Do all Shadow Men flatter their prey?"

Julian flashed her a smile that made something in Jenny's stomach drop to her toes-a look so hungry that it was _starving_ , and being directed right at her definitely supported her question. "Do I make you feel like prey?"

Jenny decided it was best not to answer that question and looked away from the Shadow Man. The blackness swirling just outside her reach suddenly made her aware of the exhaustion in her body. Her muscles were sore and her knees weren't feeling that strong either. Jenny gave the chair one more glance before walking around it to stand off to its side, keeping her gaze off to the side although she could tell Julian hadn't taken his gaze off her the entire time.

"Then prepare for a boring conversation."

"Oh, I don't think so."

"I'm not telling you about me," Jenny finally snapped. "So you better pick something else to talk about."

"I don't need to."

Before Jenny could question that, something wavered in the wall she was staring at. A splash of color, she realized, as tiny as a speck that began to grow. It spread through the milky film of the barrier until it formed a shape-a square-a solid.

The picture was completely unnerving. To have it suddenly materialize before her was sickening to watch. But it was mesmerizing at the same time, to suddenly see a picture of herself, all alone on the floor of her room, playing with those two blonde dolls her mother had given her. She was only about five years old, but Jenny remembered. She remembered those dolls, playing those silly games.

She looked and another picture beside it showed her a year older with a backpack slung over her shoulder, waiting on the street corner for the school bus. Then another popped up beside that one, of her and Zach, then another. And another.

Suddenly pictures of her circled their whole containment, covering the walls side by side, all so different, all of _her_. All specific; her birthday, first day of school, first time staying at her grandfather's. Following them with her gaze led her to meeting Julian's once again. His look was subtle, but Jenny could see the pride behind it-the smugness he was suppressing. Oh, so it was like that.

"Looks alone say enough for a conversation," he said smoothly.

The thought process of trying to unravel that just added to the layer of exhaustion wearing on Jenny. She bit back her surprise and returned her gaze away from the pictures, to the chair beside her. "Stay out of my head. I'm not telling you anything else-you probably already know it. You already knew my name. I don't _trust_ you."

"You don't _know_ me."

"I know enough," Jenny snapped, her voice hardening from this push and pull conversation. "And you don't need to know anymore, so-"

"How about an answer for an answer?"

Jenny was afraid to look back at the shadow demon, afraid of the look he'd have on his face, one so stirring and playful that she'd be unable to refuse. But looking at the endless swirls of black floating under her feet was stirring the lack of energy she had, reminding her of just how weak her knees were and that there was a chair right there and **what** was this Shadow Man saying?

Jenny looked up to find Julian staring away from her, his elbow resting on the arm of the chair, chin in his hand. He was looking off to the side, but soon his eyes flickered over to her, those unbelievable blue piercing right into her. "I'll ask you a question, then you may ask me a question. So long as you answer mine, I will answer yours. Wouldn't you like to know more about me?"

Oh that was a dangerous question. Jenny already knew about Shadow Men. She knew their runes, their rules, their tricks. She knew their tactics, their nature-

-But she didn't know about summoning things out of thin air. Or…being able to be trapped in the same dimensional space as her. Or being so damn playful and _beautiful_.

Pain struck her temples, making Jenny clench her eyes shut at the pain. She finally leaned her weight against the side of the chair, surprised it held her up without wobbling over, to ease some of the stress on her body. The wood dug into her hip, but it was nothing compared to the headache echoing through her head.

"Why?" She asked without looking up. "Why do you care-Why do you want to talk at all? Shouldn't you be…I don't know, trying to kill me? To drive me insane, scare me?"

The silence filled up the air in their containment, eventually spurring Jenny to look back at the Shadow Man. Julian still had his head in his hand, but it was now turned back to her. His gaze was downcast at first, looking level with her waist, before slowly drawing back up to those glowing cypress green eyes.

Then he asked it, as plain as day. "Do you want me to scare you?"

There was something too honest in those words-too humble for Jenny to see through. It struck her with shock actually, at how unprepared she was for what he could do. Trapped or not, he had an advantage on her.

"No." It came out as small, as Jenny feared, but she knew it wouldn't have come out any other way. "Besides," she continued, quickly, to collect herself, "I doubt you'd be able to scare me anyway."

Oh, it was a stupid thing to say, and the second it came out, a devilish smile pulled onto Julian's lips, telling Jenny she had just made a mistake. His voice came out steady, and cold. "Don't tempt me, Jenny."

"You can't. You swore."

"Precisely." Julian said as she shifted his weight, switching legs as he leaned on the other arm of the chair. "I cannot touch you and you can't keep me away. Thus this conversation."

His gaze flickered down-too quickly-one more time before settling back into her. "Would you like to start?"

Jenny, honestly, had to laugh. Just a small one, to relieve her of the pain in her head and the confusion from the man she was now facing. But she bit her lip just as fast, in order to stifle any reaction against him. It was just hard to fully come to terms with, the fact that she was now trapped with a Shadow man who wasn't trying to kill her, asking to play twenty questions with her as they floated God-knows where.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course. My turn." He paused after that, allowing the realization to settle in her face.

"That doesn't count."

"Of course it does. You asked me a question."

"Really? What about Pethro, the rules for playing fair and honestly?"

"You're the one who made me swear not to play any games, Jenny. It's just a simple question and answer basis."

"And what if I asked to shut up?"

The smirk that Julian gave her was so damn pleased with himself that Jenny just _had_ to smile back. "Ah-ah, it's my turn. Remember?"

Jenny wanted to look away-she tried-but she found herself looking back, helplessly stuck on those sapphire eyes. "Fine, _Julian_. Ask me something."

Something sparked in those impossible eyes of his, something so thrilled that it expressed raw interest in his face-as if suddenly re-amazed at something all over again. "Where'd you get that scar on your left ankle?"

Immediately, Jenny's smile dropped.

The images flashed behind her eyes, of the rain hitting the window, of the knife as it hit the floor-

"I fell," she said quickly.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"You said I had to answer you," she argued. "You said nothing about telling the truth."

"He cut you," his voice came sharply at her, "didn't he?"

For the life of her, Jenny couldn't find the voice to answer him. Suddenly remembering that day, of what happened, rattled her so hard that she even lost her balance against the chair for a second, having to pause to fix herself.

"It….It's my turn." It was hard to recover from that, and Jenny had to close her eyes to mentally shove those images back to deepest depths of her mind. Then there was the challenge of trying to come up with a question when her heart was pounding as badly as her head. But God, what do you ask a demon that only lives to cause chaos and torture?

"Uh, um. Well…." it took jenny a minute but she blurted out the first thought that came to mind. "Why _Julian_?"

The shadow man flashed a smile at her. "Why _not_?"

"No, you can't do that. You have to give me an answer."

Julian sat back a little in his seat, shoulders slouching just slightly. "It's eccentric, don't you think?"

"Yes," Jenny answered quickly, "and that was a question. So it's my turn again." Julian didn't even try to argue with that. Instead, his smile curved into a smirk that made Jenny realize how giddy she had sounded. So she cleared her throat and thought for a minute.

"How old are you?" It wasn't until after Jenny heard her voice drift beyond the walls that she realized exactly the kind of question she just asked this demon of shadows. "I mean-When-"

"Older than you think," Julian's voice was cool and collected, but his gaze was wide, like a wild animal watching its food squirm. "Why did you keep what he did to you a dirty little secret?"

Being forced back into the awful memory suddenly made Jenny's ankle prickle with heat. She really thought about not answering him-she shouldn't. He had no right to dwell in her past and feelings-but at the same time…he sort of did. Here in this remote place, trapped, weakened, neither of them had their normal rights. He couldn't force Jenny to do anything or play his stupid games, and jenny couldn't defeat him or treat him like she would a normal person. This place was completely different-foreign from both their worlds.

Here….it was all fair game.

"It wasn't his fault." It came out firmly, like Jenny wanted. She didn't wait for any reaction from him. "How the hell do you even know about that?"

"I know everything."

"Oh, yeah right. You only know fear and trickery. **How**?"

Julian's lips quirked the slightest bit. "Why are you so interested?"

Jenny attempted a shrug and fixed her position against the chair. "Isn't that why we're-I mean. It's why we're talking. How-Exactly how do you know?"

Julian crossed his arms and for once, his gaze finally tilted off to the side. "I _see_ it," he said simply. "All I have to do is look at someone, and everything they are is mapped out for me. From their fears, to their desires. It's simple really. But when I look at you…." Those sapphire eyes snapped back to Jenny with such a look that her breath hitched. "Would you like to know what I see?"

Oh the tease in his voice is what finally hit the nail on the head for Jenny. She let herself smile. "I couldn't care less what you see."

The wolf hungry smile was back in a flash. "Now what kind of conversation are we going to have if you lie on all your answers?"

"An interesting one I guess."

That amused herself more than it did Julian because for a moment their smiles were equally matched in satisfaction, and suddenly their containment, the walls of their box, seemed endless.

 **Well this was SO MUCH FUN to write! xD I got this idea a while ago and the more I began to write, I had so much room for their connection and reactions and its just really fun to me. I know it's a lot of dialogue but bear with me. If things seem vague now, itll all be cleared up later, trust me. Please review and let me know what you guys think or have any advice or suggestions** **J**

 **Till my next update!**


	2. Chapter 2

"You went out of turn," Jenny said.

"You still answered me."

"Then that's cheating, And that's not sticking to the rune of Pethro if you ask me."

"But I _didn't_ ask you." Julian smirked at Jenny's scowl and uncrossed his legs in the chair.

How long they had been talking was impossible to tell. Jenny figured she would've gotten bored or more exhausted or, hell, maybe wake up from this terrible nightmare. But in all honesty, she was…enjoying this. She had stayed leaning her hip against the back of the chair, countering the Shadow Man whenever possible and thinking of anything and everything she could ask him. There was no way to track the time, but at some point Jenny actually found herself laughing.

And the realization she had in Julian's predator gaze made that feel like she had just been stabbed in the gut.

She jumped away from the chair, fixing her shirt nervously until she remembered her hand was covered in blood and stopped.

"This is weird," she finally said.

"Is it?" Julian inquired back at her. "I find you rather fascinating."

"Not me. This. You-Me-Talking. It's just…."

"Strange, forbidden, exotic-Yes, but all the best things are." He spoke so fluidly that Jenny's gaze was inevitably drawn back to him. What he said next came out in a tone that was a soft as velvet. "You know nothing of the world, Jenny."

"And you do?" Jenny almost snapped, but it came out gentler than she predicted. "You've-Been locked in a closet all your life."

"And you've spent half of yours in a basement."

Jenny immediately shot him a glare where he chuckled. Before she could scoff and look away, however, he quickly asked, "Would you like me to show you?"

"Show me what?"

"Ah-Answer my question before you ask yours."

Jenny couldn't resist rolling her eyes at that. "Would I _like_ you to? No. But I bet you're going to show me anyway."

That wolf-hungry smile was back in a flash and Jenny refused to believe it was that smile that made a shiver run up her spine. She started to ask him what he intended to show her when her entire vision wavered.

She saw a splash of color-too quickly to decipher correctly-then the force that was their containment walls slowly begin to fill with color. Like a picture being slid between pieces of glass, the walls began to form an image, blurry at first, and slowly-so slowly-it began to take over every inch of space they had.

Before Jenny knew it, she was standing in the center of her bedroom.

But-It couldn't be-But it was. Down to the flowers on the windowsill, and the Jean-Claude comforter and the stickers on her dresser-

Julian's chair had been replaced by the end of her bed, still facing her with that arrogant smirk. Jenny couldn't help but do a complete pan of the room, where the chair she had been given was replaced by her closet door.

Jenny didn't realize she had been holding her breath until she choked on her shaky exhale.

"Wha-Where-What did you _do_?"

Julian only lifted his arms in a gesture to the room. "You asked me earlier _how_ I do what I do."

Jenny mindlessly walked up to the replica of her dresser, skeptically letting her fingers run across the smooth wood finish. The cold, solid touch was like electricity. "But…this isn't real."

"Of course it is. Have you ever heard of Magritte?"

Jenny felt a laugh rise in her throat and she caught it with a cough. "What are you-I-" Jenny whirled on him as it hit her and she found him standing, still the same distance apart, but politely with his hands behind his back. "This is a mask," she said firmly. Julian didn't have to question her. A simply pinch of the eyebrows spoke for him. "My grandfather told me about this. We're not _actually_ in my room. It's a fake. It looks exactly like my room, but we're still in the closet. It's how you trick people-How to trap them in your stupid little games."

Some kind of understanding came into those eyes as Julian studied her with such a placid expression. "Very good, Jenny. But _how_ did I do it?"

Jenny could only shrug as she turned back to the dresser, kneeling to look at all the stickers, to compare them with each one she could remember specifically. "Just like I can use Egyptian indications. It's in our nature. And it's like you said-we're maps to you. You took this from my memory." After Jenny finished tracing a sticker of a horse, she stood back up-where she finally realized what was missing. "You forgot something."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did. There's supposed to be a picture here."

"I know that."

The thought made Jenny smile. "You forgot."

The Shadow Man's voice hardened, just slightly. "I didn't."

"Well, that's all right. I didn't expect any of you Shadow Men to be perfect-"

"I don't make mistakes, Jenny. And I never lose."

Jenny finally looked back at him, her eyebrows raised in accusation. "Oh yeah? Then what picture was here?"

She placed her hand on the left corner of the dresser top where the frame should've been. Surprisingly, Julian didn't answer right away. He merely stared at her hand for what seemed like a few minutes. He was clearly struggling with something, like the act of speaking itself had become a challenge. He didn't look faint of memory-more like he was battling something he didn't understand. When he did answer her, his voice came out tough, with irritation fraying the edges.

"It was one of you and a _boy_." He pronounced the word like it physically disgusted him.

Jenny scoffed and turned back to her dresser. She peeked a glance out of the window beside it, but there was nothing but a white haze, as if there was too much sunlight coming from outside. "That's not fair. All my pictures are with my friends."

"You were beside a pool-Just got out, actually. Your wet hair had turned as dark as almonds, and you were wearing a yellow polka-dot bathing suit. It suited you quite nicely. Yellow makes your eyes shine brighter than emeralds."

Well there was no way Jenny was prepared for that kind of answer.

She didn't look at him. She didn't want to risk giving him the satisfaction of any kind of face she was making. She turned passed him, toward her bed. "D-Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Compliment me. And stay out of my head."

"You pressed the question, love."

"I said, don't do that."

"Why not? Has no one ever told you that you're hair is as bright as honey? Or your laugh-"

"Stop it. Don't flatter me. I don't like it."

"Liar."

It was right as Jenny turned that her mind registered his touch.

Julian had his arm around her waist, grasping her hip so securely. Her elbow was in his other hand, and in one swift motion, he had her completely against him. Jenny's mind stuttered to a stop for half a second before she instinctively tried to jerk away. But Julian's grip was steel and Shadow Men were impossibly strong-

In the next second Jenny shouted the first Egyptian rune she could think of and used the recoil of power to get her arm free. She jerked her leg up next, aiming for his gut, but he caught that as well, twisting it just right that it tangled with his. She shot her elbow for his throat, but he dodged that swifter than a large cat and had her arm wrapped around his neck in the same motion.

Jenny finally moved her arm just right, at the same time as she shouted a different rune, and was able to nail Julian right in the nose. She struck him with her palm in such a forceful, upward shot that there was some kind of crack. His reaction gave Jenny enough leverage to jerk away. She stumbled back until she collided with her bed, bouncing slightly with a creak of springs that seemed to echo loudly in the silence.

Her thoughts raced faster than her heart. But he-How-He couldn-t-But he did-

Jenny's first thought was when she brushed him-earlier. Her elbow touched him, that's how he had permission to grab her elbow. But her hip, how-She didn't go anywhere near him-Hadn't said anything. He gave her the chair, but she didn't-

She _leaned_ on it. That **bastard**.

He got permission to touch her and he saved it-put her in a replica of her room, somewhere she was comfortable, until she let her guard down.

Jenny watched as Julian collected himself across the room, a pale hand hovering just under his nose as a look of shock came over his face for the first time. Those exquisite blue eyes were three shades lighter, glistening at her with dilated pupils. That look-He couldn't possibly be scared. So that look was pure _thrill_.

"You…You tricked me." She gasped out.

It took Julian a long minute to come to and when he did, the smirk was back without even the slightest change. "Sorry, Jenny-"

"You _tricked_ me!" Jenny repeated, louder, and punctuated herself by jumping to her feet. "Even when you **swore** you wouldn't!"

"Do you believe I was going to harm you?"

Jenny responded on impulse. "Yes!"

Slowly, Julian shook his head with a disappointed click of his tongue. "Oh, Jenny. I swore not to play tricks on you with the intention of hurting you. You said nothing about simply touching you."

Jenny's shock turned to straight frustration in a split second. She groaned and covered her face as words failed her. How could she be so _stupid_? A loophole-a freaking loophole and she missed it! She knew it-she knew he was tricking her and yet-

"You're gorgeous even when you're upset."

"Shut up," Jenny snapped, uncovering her face to glare at him but suddenly he was mere inches from her, and he caught her hand on its way down.

His grip was tight around her wrist, refusing her immediate struggle, but it was her tugging to get away that struck pain in the open wound on her palm. The second she winced, Julian's gaze dropped to the bloody cut, and Jenny clenched her hand shut in an instant.

"Pethro, remember?" He spoke quickly, too fast for Jenny to try and interrupt. "That also requires honesty. Or did your precious Grandfather not teach you that part?"

"S-Shut up. You didn't say that earlier. I d-don't believe you-"

"But you _liked_ it. He doesn't compliment you, does he?"

When Jenny realized he meant Tom-the boy in the picture-something deep in her gut clenched tight.

"Let me go."

"Do you really want me to?"

" _Yes_."

"But I could heal this for you."

Jenny didn't want to ask him about that-she _didn't_. But she was stuck there, standing as far as her arm would let her, stretched to its extend, with her hand in Julian's control. The question just slipped out. "But-Shadow Men don't heal people. You _hurt_ people."

"Which I swore not to do to you." The tenderness of his voice is what threw Jenny completely off balance. And the way he looked at her, so gently, as if she was the center of the world, made the muscles in her arm relax just the slightest. "And the be _honest_ ," he continued, "it would be rather boring if you died of an infection from something like this. So."

He lifted her hand higher easily, and held it there for a moment. He was looking back and forth between her closed hand and the struggling expression on her face. When Jenny couldn't find anything to say, all he had to do was give her wrist a pull and she was closer, entirely in his space. The lack of space suddenly awoke a foreign feeling to Jenny on a whole new level of intimacy. Now that he stood there, holding her so close, complimenting her in such a way with a look in those beautiful eyes like she was some kind of exquisite gem, Jenny finally took in the shock of his touch, how it tingled through the layers of her skin, like pumping air into her blood, eliciting such an exotic, _thrilling_ feeling-

Jenny finally accepted that she wasn't sleeping because to feel something like _this,_ she just had to be conscious.

"All you have to do is ask."

It was that smirk, that cocky-ass smirk, that reminded Jenny of exactly where she was- _really_ was-and of everything she had learned. She could feel the ground again and common sense seemed to find its way back to her mind.

"Screw you."

When she ripped her hand away, she must've broken whatever spell Julian had on the place because the walls instantly began to melt. The color drained away, falling off into the blackness that surrounded them once again.

"I'm not stupid. You hear me? I'm not going to let you win this."

"Win what?"

"This game," Jenny stressed. "Just because you can't hurt me doesn't mean you can't kill me. You can drive me insane. You could make me kill myself. And trying to help me or seduce me is **not** going to work."

Her voice had come out so strong, so firm, but all Julian had to do was smile and the velvet touch of his voice shattered all the strength in her words. "Is that a challenge?"

Then Jenny began to shout, to rant. She felt it, felt the harsh words spitting off her tongue, but she couldn't hear herself. Somehow, her voice drifted off beyond the plane of existence, never ending because it never began. There was a strike of confusion amid this realization, then a strike of pain. Jenny stumbled at it, as if she had just been hit in the side of the head. She practically screamed as the walls of her mind caved in on themselves, suffocating her sanity in seconds.

All she saw was the glimpse of surprise on Julian's face and his hand extending toward her before the blackness swallowed everything.

\- -... ...

She felt so warm. Odd, she couldn't remember why, but being so comfortable just sounded so wrong to her mind. But she was. So relaxed, laying down like this, with such a gentle heat coming from before her. It was so nice and comfortable, like her bed at home-

Her temples throbbed and Jenny's eyes snapped open-where she saw fire.

But her panic settled momentarily at the sight of stone around the flames, creating a very vintage fireplace in front of her. The ground was soft-no, that was a pillow. Jenny was on some kind of carpet with her head in a pillow, and a blanket across her shoulders.

Everything came back to her slowly, like pieces of sand falling in an hourglass, one grain at a time. By the time she remembered, Julian was speaking.

"I'd sit up slowly if I were you."

As a result Jenny whipped her head around to find Julian sitting at her feet, but the world caught up with her too quickly and a wave of nausea hit her hard. Her vision wavered as her head suddenly weighed a ton, and black dots began to swirl and blink around her vision. Her attempt at sitting up failed the second she tried it and she ended up lowering herself back down onto her elbows, hands at her throbbing temples. The chuckle she heard behind her made her groan. "Shut-Ugh. God, what…." She had to blink a few times in order to see correctly again and she felt the blood slowly drain back into her face. Sluggishly, she settled back into herself and was able to speak without the world suddenly spinning. "What happened?"

"You fainted. Rather suddenly, if I might add."

When Jenny felt her head was finally square back on her shoulders, she sat up just enough to look at the Shadow Man over her shoulder. He sat parallel to her, also facing the fire, with one leg bent up and leaning his arm on that knee. He gazed at her for only a moment before looking into the flames before them. Jenny wouldn't admit it aloud, but the way the golden glow radiated off his porcelain skin, and how it streaked through his snow white hair like blonde highlights, was breathtaking.

"If I had known my effect on you was that strong, I might've adjusted."

Jenny scoffed at his smirk and attempted at sitting up once more, this time a lot slower. The nausea was still there, but the faint dizziness was gone. "You didn't make me faint. Jerk…." But as Jenny said it, she came to accept that fact that she didn't know what made her faint. It was most likely this place-the fact that her mortal soul was trapped in such an otherworldly place was probably not healthy for the body or the mind. Thinking about it only made Jenny feel worse, more exhausted than before, and her entire body itched with an uncomfortable soreness.

It was while staring into the fire, watching the flames crack and pop and waver for God knows how long, that made Jenny realize how thick the silence between them was. Surprisingly Julian wasn't saying anything. He was merely staring into the fire like she was. There, with a mere foot between them, in such a cramped, cozy place, Jenny felt strangely calm.

Jenny wanted to say something, she felt like she should, but the more she tried to think of something to say, the more words failed her. As if saying anything at a moment like this would break whatever peace was hanging in the air.

Eventually, Julian lifted his hand. It was a small gesture, just a raise of his fingers, and the flames began to dance. It was mesmerizing to watch, as the flames shifted and turned and climbed on themselves until they were shaping something. It's like something out of a movie, Jenny thought as the fireplace was suddenly like a crackling flip-book show. First it was hard to tell exactly what she saw, but when blue flames began to seep up into the orange and give detail to the shape, Jenny recognized it as a tiger. It was about the size of her hand, wavering and small with the whip of the flames, but it moved so fluidly, stalking low like it was after its prey. It started to run, the shape moving in place as the flames behind it blurred by bending to the side. The changes in the color with breaks in the flames gave the appearance of trees or some kind of jungle-like area. All of it moved, just like a real scene, and Jenny knew her eyes were bugging out of her head, but she couldn't help it.

She spared Julian a glance where his gaze was already locked on hers, peeking at her out of the corner of his eye while he still faced the flames. When they both looked back to the fireplace, another shape appeared, too small to make out, and when the tiger pounced on it, the flames burst with a loud _pop_. The whole scene sparked, then the fire dimmed almost to the point of dying.

Jenny felt the decrease of heat from her face, but she couldn't look away from the flames. Not when she knew the Shadow Man was still looking at her. "I didn't know you could do that," she admitted after a while of the continued silence.

"I told you," he replied just as gently. "You know nothing of us."

Jenny looked at him now, tightening her gaze just a bit. "I'm still mad at you for tricking me."

Julian only smiled in response. "Of course you are."

"I won't let you do it again, you know." To that Julian met her gaze once more. "I _won't_."

"We'll see about that."

It was the way his gaze flickered down her body, for just a second, with such an admiring look in his eyes, that spurred Jenny to tempt the Devil.

"Isa," she said as she scratched the wound on her palm with her ring once more, inducing just enough magic to cause the fire to spit out and die completely. There was a hiss as the rune for ice killed the flames and the smoke puffed out between them, separating them. Jenny flung off the blanket in the next moment, and did her best to get to her feet without passing out again. "Thanks for tucking me in," she chided with just enough tease to sting.

Julian's gaze didn't lose her for a second. "You don't want to make me angry, Jenny."

There was nothing but the fireplace in their environment, but Jenny walked until she found the black wall farthest from the Shadow Man, and planted herself there with her back to him. "Do I?" She asked with as much mockery as she could with a lingering headache. "Because I think you don't want to upset _me_ , Julian."

In the next second Julian was off the ground. She didn't need to turn around to know he was right behind her-with the shadows as his background and crystal blue eyes as sharp as icicles over her shoulder. Jenny, surprisingly, didn't flinch when his voice came right in her ear.

"Really?" There was a twinge in his voice that made Jenny feel on the thin edge of playful and venomous. "Because _I_ know what you can do. But you, Jenny…. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Perhaps it was supposed to be a threat, but, really, Jenny couldn't help but smile. She could've laughed in all honesty because she didn't feel threatened at all. Maybe she should have, but the way he lingered behind her, how he countered her on every single sentence seemed to spur a bit of childish glee in Jenny.

Then it hit her.

She spun on her heel, finding the Shadow man just as close as she imagined, so close that the end of her hair almost hit him in the face. She looked right into those crystal blue eyes and said, "Then show me."

It _sounded_ stupid, yes, but Jenny was playing her own game.

She hadn't known about the beautiful factor, or the fire trick, but Jenny knew a Shadow man's limits. For the most part. For the past several years she had been learning about nothing but Shadow Men. If she was stuck here, she might as well learn some more. She wasn't going to get a better teacher.

And if she ever did make it home alive, and alone, then she could relay the information to her grandfather.

Something passed through Julian's gaze that made Jenny add, "With the same rules. No tricks. No trying to hurt me, and being honest. If you do that, so will I."

Julian didn't agree right away. Nor did he attempt at removing the space between them. Jenny knew very well that she was trapped, but if Julian denied this new game, then she had full intentions on making him move.

Those impossible blue eyes seemed to stare right through her, searching her until he found what he wanted, and the smirk made its way back onto his lips. "And here you had me convinced you didn't _want_ me to show you anything."

"You offered."

"You don't trust me."

"Nope."

"And what do I get out of showing you?"

His tone of voice made a hint of concern fill Jenny's throat, as if he already knew what she was up to, but she'd be damned if she was going to show it. She merely shrugged. "A chance to show off?"

That smile-wolf hungry-was back in a flash. Jenny was becoming strangely familiar with that smile.

She blinked and the black that surrounded them was replaced with blue. Too fast for Jenny to comprehend, the color flashed at her quick enough to sting her eyes. By the time her mind realized she was seeing a clear blue sky, a sudden gust of wind came at them, from behind the Shadow Man, pushing Jenny back. Her instinct to lean away suddenly brought aware of not the wall of their containment, but empty air-

-and the broken edge of ground that laid under her feet.

Jenny began to fall, unable to catch herself as she leaned right off the edge, arms flailing out of mere instinct, until Julian caught her. He stopped her with a simple grip on the wrist, but he did not pull her to safety.

Jenny found herself trapped again, but, God, this was worse.

If she kept her legs straight, locked in place like that, then with Julian's grip on her wrist, she was literally pulling all her weight off of the Shadow man's hold, leaning at a forty-five degree angle off the edge. She didn't have to look down to know she was now on the edge of some cliff, relying solely on Julian's strength, but she was afraid that if she _looked_ away that this force would break and she would go dropping down to God-knows where.

Julian drank in how her cypress green eyes went as light as limes in shock.

"Jenny, I don't think you understand how these games work."

His grip loosened just a bit, causing Jenny's body to tilt back, a bit farther over the edge, and Jenny gasped.

"There's nothing I would want more than to show you _everything_. But you're going to have to trust me."

He tightened his hold, securing Jenny where she lingered once more.

She hesitated greatly, as if speaking would send her falling. But the rune-He swore. "I _don't_ trust you."

Julian paused, then with a simple tug, he had Jenny back on the ground-but just barely. She was pressed right against him, forced to grab his shoulders for balance. She felt her heels hanging off the edge, and her pulse racing a mile a minute. He held her there, with her wrist in hand, and the other on her hip in a touch as light as gauze, staring into her with such a gaze. For the first time in her life, she found herself in the arms of a demon.

Jenny couldn't deny the rush of adrenaline that pumped through her blood because of it.

He spoke with a voice that was as elemental as water running over rocks. "Then I don't accept your deal."

Oh, it was dangerous. But Jenny couldn't help herself.

"Fine."

Then Jenny pushed herself off the edge, dragging the Shadow Man with her.

Jenny didn't know what she was expecting. There was the wind, of course. The feeling of her gut dropping to her toes. Maybe a part of her had expected to hit the floor of their containment.

What she didn't expect was to land in water.

The liquid erupted against her back, stinging the exposed skin of her shoulders and hip. It enveloped her in such an excessive cold that it burned at first, tingled in the roots of her hair, her eyelids, and her fingertips. It broke her fall, took her breath away too fast, so fast-She lost her grip on Julian.

Then her feet hit the bottom, whatever the hell that was made of, and natural instincts made her kick off it, springing back to the surface. Surprisingly, she made it. Her head broke free with a gasp and she blinked away water as she treaded to stay afloat.

The first thing she noticed was the rock wall resting not but five feet away from her with the reflection of the water in an intimate dance with the shadows. The second thing she noticed was that mystical sound-one so familiar but so unearthly that it struck some kind otherworldly wonder inside her.

Julian was laughing.

He was on his hands and knees on the small strip of rock that separated the water from the wall, with his face in one hand. He was completely drenched, his white shirt now transparent and stuck to him much like his pants. His hand was over his eyes, those glorious white bangs hanging in wet, dripping clumps. And he laughed in such a way that couldn't be due to anything but pure, unexpected humor.

Jenny was astonished.

She honestly couldn't believe it. She pictured Shadow men as horrible, disfigured creatures that lived off of fear and chaos, and would go above and beyond to hurt you. Their laughs, she had only guessed, would be the kind that made your blood run cold.

But this-Julian-His laugh-didn't terrify Jenny at all. In fact, she smiled at it.

The water was numbing and the cove was small, but Jenny didn't really take the time to look around, besides the fact that the wall in front of her stretched up into the ceiling where she saw a bit of light, because Julian was still laughing.

He finally fell to his rear on the rock and he brushed those wet bangs out of his face as he slowly got his breath back. When his gaze finally met Jenny's, that shock of color seemed to break whatever trance Jenny was in-reminding her that Julian was still a Shadow man in all, and exactly where she was.

She began to swim to the strip of rock he sat on. "Didn't see that coming, did you?"

Julian watched her for a moment, composing himself faster than any professional actor could do, to a very calm, neutral base. He waited till she was able to grab the edge of the rock and balance herself that way before he said coolly, "No. I didn't."

Jenny figured she should get out of the water. Being in a skirt in the water wasn't the best thing in the world, especially in front of the enemy, and the cold was definitely beyond comfortable. Yet, the only piece of land, aka the strip Julian was currently sitting on, wasn't very big. Sitting up on it would place her closer to him than she wanted to be at the moment.

Then again….She had no idea what could be in this water.

When she looked back, Julian had his hand outstretched to her.

He said nothing, so neither did Jenny. She merely scowled and ignored his hand as she hauled herself onto the rock. She positioned herself at the very edge, as far from the demon as possible, but even then only a small piece of air sat between them. She immediately fixed her soaked, heavy skirt so that it covered her fully, then worked on fixing her now skin-tight slightly darker blouse.

The fact that Julian was watching made her a bit anxious.

"So, uh, where'd you put us now?"

"Ah, it's my turn to ask a question, remember?"

Jenny shot him a confused glare, caught off guard that the rules of their conversation still applied. Julian smiled upon seeing it. "You said with the same rules."

Jenny scoffed and turned her gaze away. "Jeez. Are all shadow men so freaking literal?"

Julia must've taken it as a rhetorical question because instead of answering her, he asked one of his own. "Have you ever heard of a Leviathan?"

"A what?"

"A Leviathan. A monstrous sea creature that dwells in the depths of the oceans. There are many legends about it."

Jenny took a second to ponder that, trying her best to recall everything her grandfather had told her about myths and legends. In the process, she gathered all her hair to the side and wrung it out. "It's real, isn't it?"

"Why would you say that?"

"No, answer my question first."

Julian's wicked smile made the temperature in the cavern drop at least ten degrees colder. "Yes. It prefers to dwell in the darkest pits of oceanic caverns, but when it just so happens to come out, there's always a lost ship above her head. Coincidental, of course."

Jenny released her hair, ran her fingers through it, and began kicking her feet softly in the water. "Most myths and stuff are true. My grandfather taught me that. They're just explanations for what people can't understand. Like how people blame the Boogeyman for everything your kind does." Jenny half expected Julia to add something cocky to that but his silence made Jenny realized he was waiting. Then she realized it was her turn since she had technically answered his question. "Why did you bring that up?"

Again, Julian didn't answer. His gaze merely flickered downward. At first, Jenny thought he spotted something, but really he was looking at the water, at her feet in the water, the water in this cavern, this oceanic cavern-the kind Leviathans like to dwell in-

In the next second, jenny's feet were out of the water, and Julian chuckled. "Don't worry. She's asleep. Although I wouldn't advise waking her."

Those cypress green eyes were tight when they glared upon him. "You're lying."

"Am I? I thought we were supposed to be honest."

Oh. Right.

Jenny let that sink in slowly as she attempted at peering into the water. Of course, nothing could be seen from above. When she remembered something, she gave Julian a glance, then shifted so her legs were underneath her and she knelt over the edge of the water. She used her ring once more to make the tiniest cut on her finger and she was proud at how well she stifled her wince from the pain. She made the appropriate markings just at the edge of the water which were two small Scandinavian runes. Then she pressed her bloody finger to her lips, and with her eyes closed and a breath, she muttered the scouting spell. As soon as she muttered the words, she flicked her hand down to the water, letting her blood to sink into the murky water in beautiful swirls.

Immediately she felt her world pulse around her. As if she had her echolocation, the world pulsed throughout the cavern, and came to a seizure-like stop in three places. This is what Jenny should've done when she first woke up here, to alert her of any other beings nearby. But now she wasn't sure if she was glad she did it or not.

The three places were obvious. Right beside her was the hottest marking, the senses in the spell practically going haywire to alert her of something very powerful, very close. The next came a bit far off, almost fuzzy in a sense like blocked by static, but still very large, very strong. The third alert from the spell echoed its way up and down and all around her. It was thin, almost weak, but it completely wrapped around Jenny. It took her a long minute to realize that the spell she cast had alerted her of the containment walls, which still existed even here.

Jenny didn't get the chance to question it because Julian was asking, "Would you know how to stop her?"

It wasn't until after Jenny asked, "What?" that she realized exactly what that second alert of power was.

"If she attacked you," Julian clarified, motioning his head for the water, "would you know how to defeat her? To win the game?"

Jenny knew she didn't have to answer him. He was being a smart ass. If she didn't know what the thing was in the first place, how would she know how to stop it from killing her?

"What would you do? Hm, Jenny?"

"That's, like, the fourth question you've asked me."

"And you have yet to answer a single one."

Jenny finally scoffed and worked on fixing her skirt as she sat back down. "I'm not telling you."

"Now you were the one who said we must answer one another, truthfully, Jenny."

"Fine. I _don't_ know how to stop it. I don't even know what it looks like."

"That's not the question I asked."

"It was one of 'em."

Surprisingly, Julian chuckled at that, and when Jenny looked at him, he was coming to a stand. He waited a moment after he was up, allowing their gazes to hold just a minute longer, before offering his hand to her.

Jenny didn't even bother. "No."

"I know you want to see it."

"No, I don't-You don't know what I want."

"And you do?"

Jenny went to retaliate, to argue, but the words suddenly failed her.

Thankfully, Julian didn't let it linger. "You're not the least bit curious? To see something people only rumor about? To know what it lives like….to **touch** it?"

Julian knew he had Jenny hooked the second she met his gaze again. She hesitated greatly, clearly thrown off by something. She looked at his hand, then scowled. "No. No way, it'll kill me!"

"I won't let it."

"Oh, yeah, right!" Jenny jumped to her feet, wet hair falling in her face as she snapped, "I said I don't trust you. I'm not putting my life in the hands of a stupid demon-"

"I wore not to harm you. And you asked me to show you, Jenny." Before she could interrupt again, he drew the rune in the air, swearing, "I swear on my existence to stop _anything_ from bringing you harm in any shape or form, here or in any dimension."

Well that…..

Jenny didn't know what to do. There wasn't any possible loophole through that. Unless another Shadow Man butted in to kill her while Julian distracted her, but it was just the two of them here. And apparently a Leviathan.

Jenny gave the water one more careful look before back to Julian's hand. "Really?"

"Truly."

Jenny had to take a deep breath, send out a quick prayer, before she took the Shadow Man's hand.

 **Here we go again. Did ya like it? I had a little trouble near the end. But I have a clear shot of where this is going now. The next chapter is going to be very juicy so stay tuned! And the more reviews I get, the faster I update I swear** **J** **Thanks for reading guys and please review with any comments or advise, it is all welcomed** **J**

 **Till my next update!**

 **ZVA**


	3. Chapter 3

In all her thirteen years of living, Jenny never imagined herself swimming hand in hand with a Shadow man. Thinking about it like that, she was beginning to consider insanity a great possibility. But here she was, kicking her feet and spurring herself along as the Shadow Man easily tugged her down farther and father underwater. The further they sank, the more Jenny began to regret jumping in with him. Rune or not, there were plenty of sharp edges down here. She could get stuck and drown. She could crack her head open.

Too soon, they came upon a rocky ledge and Jenny began to see the shape of something under it-something massive.

Or she could get eaten alive.

It was too dark down here, with nothing but shadows and rocks, she couldn't see well enough. She had no way to prepare herself if anything happened.

She immediately stroked backwards, against Julian's pull, causing him to stop as well. Even underwater, with those white locks a glistening silver dancing around those sapphire eyes, his smirk was so dangerous. It made Jenny glare, until Julian put a single finger to his lips. The lack of any bubbles escaping his lips at all was only more intimidating. He drew her forward a little more, where some light came in, and Jenny saw it.

Just ahead, in the descending rock wall before her, here sat a sharp ledge, creating a crevasse in the wall. Underneath it was a shape so large that it stuck out of the wall. It seemed round at first, but as they drew closer she saw it was much sharper than that.

It was big, yes, but the end that was poking out was shaped like an oval. A point at the top and coming to a wider point at the side. There was something like fins at the top, three from what Jenny could see, very similar to spikes. There were smaller ones near the bottom, but they were a darker shade of red compared to the brighter ones atop. It was covered in scales that reminded Jenny of the inside of abalone, a colorful mix between blue and brown, and all shapes and sizes. The body of it was very cylinder, all bunched together and extending deeper into the crevasse where Jenny couldn't see.

It wasn't until the creature flexed, expanded, then a large stream of bubbles came out the end that Jenny realize she was looking at the _head_ of the creature.

Julian was telling the truth. It was sleeping. Jenny couldn't see it's eyes, but the spikes were at the top of its head, the smaller ones at its chin. The scales looked thinner there, that must be its jaws-

Jenny fully ripped herself away from the Shadow Man now, doing her best not to stutter and let out any precious air. She was starting to feel a bit uneasy, probably from the lack of oxygen. But she kept her lips pursed tight and she paddled her arms to keep herself in place.

She didn't dare try and speak underwater, so she spoke with her eyes. _I don't trust you._

She couldn't read into Julian's expression as well as he could read into hers. He gave her a mere bounce of his eyebrows, a very dangerous feature, and swam away from her. He went right up to the sleeping beast, right up to the head, and gently laid its hand on its jaw. The creature didn't even stir. It stayed still for a very long time before it took its next breath, spitting out air bubbles right beside Julian. He moved easily, as if he could control the water to push him along (Jenny wondered for a moment if he was actually capable of such a thing), letting his hand run down the length of the creature until the rock wall got in his way. Julian looked back her, smiling, and something in Jenny's gut curled.

Or maybe that was her lungs, begging for air.

Jenny didn't wait. She shot herself upward, kicking as fast as she could towards the surface. For a minute, Jenny feared she wouldn't reach it, just keep going up and up, never ending-just keep swimming until she ran out of air and drowned-

But she didn't. She broke the surface with a gasp only to find she wasn't in the same cavern as before. This was just a very small pocket, the rock covering her in a tiny dome. The layer of air between the rock and the water was just about the size of Jenny's head, forcing her to tilt her head back in the water just slightly in order to breathe without taking in water.

Was that really a Leviathan? Just sleeping in this cavern? And it really wouldn't wake if she touched it? Well it was pretty massive. Her touch must be like a speck of passing algae if it could feel it at all. She didn't have to go back down, she knew that. But this pocket of air wasn't very comfortable. And when would she get the chance to touch a sea monster? But if it woke up-

But Julian did swear to protect her. He couldn't break that, right?

Jenny actually had to hit herself, which resulted more in splashing herself in the face. What was she doing? Swimming with a Shadow Man? Going on a Leviathan hunt? The part of herself that Jenny knew best was struggling, to battle all of this, not go along with it. But the other part of her, it was almost like too fuzzy to read. She should fight it. She should fight _Julian_ , and yet….

The pain in her temples was like a reality check. What else was she supposed to do? She could battle Julian with runes every time he changed their environment. But if she just sat and watched him take the first move, she would never win. He'd probably kill her. But he swore….

Jenny couldn't trust that. But she couldn't take him head on either. Not here. So Jenny made sure her ring was still secure on her finger, and reminded herself of a few protective charms she could summon if the thing woke up, praying that those would stall it long enough for her to get away.

Then she took in a deep breath and pushed herself back down.

Julian was waiting for her, catching her hand as soon as he descended from the surface. He studied her for a moment, asking with his eyes, teasing with his smile. Jenny tried to be as pliant as possible, to stifle her curiosity so this Shadow Man would get as little satisfaction from her expression as possible. Still, Julian seemed to find it, because his smile only widen before he dragged her back down.

He took her back to the Leviathan, only closer. He stopped at the rock wall, just left of the opening where the monster's head hung out. From this angle it was even larger than Jenny thought-at least five times her size. It could literally swallow her whole.

Julian carefully pulled Jenny across him, allowing her to pull herself to a stop by grabbing a hold of the rock's edge.

It was right there. Hell, even a bit of its body was right in front of her. She knew she had to act soon before she ran out of air, but God she was so damn _nervous_.

Soon that voice was in her head, steadying, reassuring. _"You can't hesitate, Jenny. You know what to do. If you second-guess yourself, they'll be all over you."_

Her grandfather was right. She knew what to do. She had many ways of defending herself. She may be small, but she wasn't powerless. So with a bit of that bravery her grandfather had always charmed her on, Jenny reached out and touched it.

It was cool, and surprisingly smooth for something covered in scales. It was like the texture of a snake, only combined with a whale or something. It was pure strength wrapped so tight in rubber that it could snap at any minute-

Jenny immediately retracted her hand and grabbed the wall, losing a surprised breath through her nose. The touch on her elbow, surprisingly steadied her. Julian was still there, still with that damn cocky smile. He was testing her, she knew he was, but the challenge in his eyes only spurred Jenny on.

She swam away from the wall, and to keep herself from floating away, she grabbed the monster's body with both hands. She quickly glanced to it's head, where she saw no sign of it waking up. It didn't even take its next breath for the longest time. So Jenny ran her hands down the scales, slowly of course, feeling the edge of each one, how so easily they flexed up, off its body. She moved just a bit closer, over the hump of the part of it that stuck out, and she could see deeper into the crevasse.

Oh it was massive, alright. It's body never ended! It surprisingly fit in the space, the long body coiled up much like a snake would under a rock. Jenny had the slightest temptation to go a bit inside, to see what the end of it looked like-a tail? A funky rear of some sort?-but she quickly advised herself against it. If the creature moved at all, she would be squished in no time.

Instead, Jenny moved along, aiming for one of those spikes near the bottom. It didn't budge at all when she touched it, firm and very sharp from the look of it. A piece moved near her, striking a sense of fear for only a moment until Jenny saw the monster was still fast asleep. The piece was like a tentacle, thicker than Jenny's arm, dangling loosely in the water. Jenny found it attached right beside the Leviathan's jaw line, and it was _long_. Jenny started to float up a bit, so she caught herself on the monster's head, and tried to touch the floating piece. It swirled by, probably with the current of the water, and the end brushed from Jenny's elbow all the way to her fingertips in a very light, ticklish gesture. Jenny smiled.

She completely forgot about Julian, or the closet, or even her grandfather, for just a moment. With the water dancing through her hair and her clothes, and the exotic touch of a sea monster asleep at her hands, all while still holding her breath, she felt in a completely different world, even out of her own body.

She followed the tentacle-piece back to the head of the creature where she used it to move her along, touching down the curve of it, feeling the change in the scales and how the lack of light made them gleam just slightly here and there. It was amazing. It was magnificent. She wondered how many people had seen this particular creature and lived to tell the tale. Well some had to, she hoped, otherwise where did the legends and tales come from?

Jenny started to wonder, as she let her hands roam down from the top of the head, near the spikes, if she would be able to tell her grandfather about it. Hell, she could even tell Zach. He'd probably call her bluff, but she knew he'd be jealous.

 _If_ she made it home.

It was while Jenny was running her hands across a more delicate part of skin that she noticed the bubble erupting from the head right beside her-very abruptly-too quickly for normal breathing.

The skin under her hand moved, lifted, revealing a large patch of white and a tiny circle of black that was as big as her head. Jenny was staring into the eye of the Leviathan-seeing her own terrified reflection-for about half a second before everything ruptured.

She didn't get the chance to jerk away. The monster snapped its head up, knocking Jenny back with its snout. Jenny lost her breath, spitting out bubbles of air as she pushed off its mouth, and watched the rows of teeth reveal itself-yellow, and bloodstained, with sharp points as big as her fist-Jesus there were at least four rows-

Something cinched tight around Jenny's waist, squeezing the last of her air right out of her, precious bubbles escaping into the water. It was the tentacle, along with a matching one from the other side of the monster's mouth, wrapped around her entire lower half, preventing any struggle.

The beast moved, lifting up and out of the crevasse with ease, carrying Jenny with it. The water gushed around her, straining her trapped body until they were away from the rock wall. The Leviathan stretched up, revealing its long, snake-like body that went on and on and on-

Jenny couldn't see anything but those beady eyes drilling into her, and those rows of teeth closing in on her-All while that sound, that rippling hiss, seemed to paralyze her from her core and out-

In the next second, there was a jerk, and the monster's head was turned away. Then the hands were on Jenny, and with a simple motion, she was pulled free from the tentacles grasp. Julian turned her away from the beast right as it was coming back, extending its head toward them, jaw wide open-

But all it took was one swift kick, and Julian sent the entire sea creature straight into the rock wall. There was even an eerier crack as the Leviathan's head hit the wall, sending chunks of the rock sinking down with it.

Jenny couldn't see much after that because her mind finally realized the fact that she was taking in water, choking, bringing instant fear; but the way the head of the creature just sunk down into the depths just beyond Julian's shoulder made Jenny believe it wasn't going to follow them.

It didn't take long to get back to the surface with Julian in complete control. He carried Jenny bridal-style right out of the water, walking right up to dry land that wasn't there before without even stopping. All while Jenny fought so hard to breathe. She was coughing, choking, desperately trying to force air into her lungs. Her mind was still in a panic, thinking she was still so close to drowning because she couldn't breathe-but she could. She finally spit up the water and was taking careful, deep breaths of air-cool, clean, living air. She was so relieved to be breathing, gently trying to calm her racing heart, that she almost missed the fact that Julian was setting her down, gently, next to something very, very warm.

It took Jenny a long time to fully accept what just happened. To realize that she froze. She woke up the Leviathan, she touched it's eye and woke it up and froze-she couldn't think of a single god damn thing to defend herself, that she was about to die-

And Julian….saved her.

Well he had to, right? He put the Leviathan there. He was in control, right? But he brought her back up so quickly, so she could breathe. He had even given her that pocket of air earlier so she could get a breath of air. He could've let her drown. He could've let her get eaten.

Jenny didn't realize she was staring at the Shadow Man until she found him staring back.

"You saved me…"

"As I swore to."

Then he shocked Jenny further by reaching down and fixing her skirt, pulling the soaked fabric down so she was completely covered. It sent an odd shiver up Jenny's stomach, making her cover herself. Even so, they continued to sit like that, Julian's arm across her back, supporting her so she was sitting up, in this new room with dark carpet much like fur, and a heater spitting such warm air right beside Jenny.

He saved her from the monster, prevented her drowning, covered her so she wasn't exposed, and was now preventing her from getting hypothermia.

"Why?" Jenny had to ask; it didn't make sense.

"Would you prefer I let you die?"

"No, Julian, answer me."

Jenny sat up straighter, making Julian's arm drop away from her. He studied her for a moment before asking, "Why should I? You won't believe me. You didn't about the Leviathan-"

" _Julian_."

It was that tone. So firm-so assertive for a thirteen year old. Then again, she was no ordinary thirteen year old. Julian gave a sigh, as if answering her was the most troublesome thing. "Would you believe me if I told you I _didn't_ want you dead?"

Jenny couldn't read him. He had to be joking, he was a Shadow man, but…those exotic eyes have never looked so blue….

So Jenny pressed at it. "Why didn't you let it kill me?"

"I swore to."

"But _why_?"

"For this," he said simply, dully, gesturing around them.

Jenny shook her head. She pressed harder. "Why? If you really don't want me dead, then tell me why. I don't understand. If you're tricking me, I'd rather you just tell me-"

"I'm not." He said it quickly, almost snapping. His smile was gone now. "A tip, Jenny: Shadow Men like to show off, especially when there's nothing their opponent can do about it."

"Is that what this is?" Jenny asked, and she was aware of how tight her voice sounded, and how quickly Julian pulled back because of it. But she didn't stop, she asked, " Are you tricking me right now? With all these questions and games? Are you trying to make me trust you so that when I let me guard down you'll kill me when I'm not looking? Is that why you swore-Answer me!"

She didn't mean to blurt out the last part, but Julian had stood so abruptly that she couldn't help it. He stared down at her with such a look-Jenny could only call it a look of struggle. When he finally answered her, it was quick, with completely no emotion behind it. "No."

"Then why?" After Jenny asked this, she noticed the heat had stopped coming from beside her and when she glanced, the heater was gone all together. She asked again, "Why, Julian," and the Shadow Man had turned away from her.

It was only quiet for a moment before there was change in the corner of Jenny's eye. She must've blinked and missed it because suddenly their new empty room was full-crowded with piles and piles of clothes, and blankets, and even towels-different colors and sizes and textures, so many of them-reminding Jenny of how soaked she was and how a towel and a change of clothes would be so nice-

Then there was a spark and suddenly all the piles were on fire, bright orange flames reaching higher than Julian who stood in the middle of it all-So still, hands at his sides, until the flames decreased and there was nothing left but a bunch of stacks of ash.

It was then that Julian faced Jenny again, and those impossible blue eyes were a fierce, deep cobalt that pinned Jenny right onto the floor. He spoke sharply, "Don't get the wrong idea-I don't do favors. I do what I want, when I want. Especially in here."

Jenny could only stare at him for a minute because his words didn't scare her. She was unable to accept the fact that Julian-a Shadow Man-was putting up a front-covering for something.

Then it hit her.

"You're embarrassed."

For the second time, Julian barked a laugh, but this one was cold, short, and sharp like an icicle-the kind of laugh a Shadow Man should have. It made something twinge in the air-something dark and fearsome-the kind of feeling that lurked in the air during the Dark Ages, when the shadows alone were terrifying.

"What makes you think," he spoke slowly, tightly, "that _something like me_ would ever get embarrassed before the likes of a small, human girl like you?"

It was cruel-the type of cruelty that comes from defending oneself. Jenny didn't believe a word of it. Maybe she would have-back in the beginning, before he swore-before he saved her-before he covered her skirt.

Thus Jenny came to a stand, shaking her head in the process. "Because you saved me. Because you did something nice-You had to-"

"I **choose** what I do. I do not take orders-I'm a Shadow Man, Jenny, remember? I break the rules."

"Then you _chose_ to do something nice. You saved me-"

"I swore to-"

"You fixed my skirt. What rune made you do that?" As if to emphasize, she grabbed the ends of her skirt, making Julian's gaze dart down to it. They were wide now, clearly unsettled by something. Then Julian put his back to Jenny, making her stiffen her voice. "You can't stand the fact that you did something nice. If you let that thing kill me, you would feel better, wouldn't you?"

"Actually no," Julian answered over his shoulder. "I wouldn't."

"Then _why_?"

"Ah, you just asked a question. It's my turn."

But the Shadow Man kept his back to her, and said nothing.

"Then I'm taking your turn. Why did you swear to me? Why did you promise me at all? Why do you care-"

"I **don't** ," he snapped, whirling around on her. "I don't care about morals or the good in the world-You said it yourself. I'm _evil_. All I _care_ about is what you're afraid of."

"But you're not even scaring me! You said you wanted to show me everything-to show off. What kind of game is that?"

"Would you like to find out?" At that, his voice dropped dangerously low, and everything Jenny's grandfather had told her about Shadow Men came flying back like needles on every tip of her goosebumps. Julian didn't wait for her answer. He put his back to her once more, and took a few steps away from her as well for good measure.

It didn't stay like that for long. Jenny didn't let the topic drop. "Why are you doing this? Are you trying to drive me crazy?" When the Shadow Man didn't answer her, Jenny forgot completely about her own safety against this demon and stepped closer, saying, "You have to answer me-"

Suddenly he turned on her, advancing on her so fast that Jenny automatically reeled back. His words spat quickly, like sparks, "No, it's _my_ turn. Why did you follow me down there? Hm? Why did you put your trust in me in the first place-Or better yet, why did you trust that pathetic old man? Everyone calls him crazy-did you know that? Back on Earth, they shun him. They'll do the same to you. If you make it back home. And your cousin, too-if he even makes it that far. I wonder why you take such pity on him, after what he did to you-He's _weak_. He won't last a day in the real world."

He was still charging at Jenny with eyes like blue flames, full of such rage and uncontrollable power. Jenny was shocked, mindlessly taking it all in as she stumbled backwards.

"You think you know-You don't, Jenny. You don't see what I see. Want to know what I see? I see your grandfather taking his last breath. I see your precious _boy_ falling for another girl. I see your cousin's fragile psyche slowly diminishing, piece by piece, drowning in the memory of hurting his one and only cousin all those years ago until he finally turns the blade on himself-And there's nothing you, or anyone, can do about it-"

The second Jenny's back hit a wall, a part of her seemed to snap out of the trance she was in and she screamed the first rune she could think of.

The power was like a slap to Julian, turning his head away, stilling him. For a minute they merely stood there in silence, Julian with his gaze cast off to the side, and Jenny pressed against the wall with quickened breathing and wide eyes because he had done it-He had scared her, backed her right into a corner to the point where she couldn't even respond. But Julian didn't seem to find any satisfaction in the act because when he finally looked back at her, something dark and disgusted crossed his face before he turned away, whisking his arm up in the process. By the time he was fully turned around, a wall of shadows grew between them, completely blocking Jenny off, leaving her in a tiny space, much like a real closet.

Jenny couldn't even react. She didn't know what to do as images of her grandfather dying, of Tom leaving her, and of Zach killing himself all passed through her mind-As lies. All lies-But he swore on Pethro, for honesty-

Slowly, Jenny let herself slide to the floor, and in the silence she hugged her knees, finally feeling as trapped and alone as she really was…..

….-

Jenny must've fallen asleep because when she opened her eyes again she was laying down on her side, the floor back to the ghostly black force that was their containment from the beginning. And it was so quiet. Not even a breath, a shift of air. Complete and utter silence. Nothing but silence and the shadows.

It was unbearable.

Jenny slowly sat up, feeling a remainder of a headache falling away as she did, and found herself facing one of the walls. The déjà vu was sickening, waking like this, just like the very first moment she got here, and so she turned, quickly, like she should've done when the first time.

She half-expected to see the wall still there, blocking her off. Surprisingly, she saw Julian. He was facing the other end of their box, completely parallel to her. He had both hands against the wall, leaning against it with his head hanging between his arms. It wasn't a composed stance, nowhere near a non-chalant look like the Shadow Man always had. Jenny couldn't help but wonder what she would've thought if she woke up to this in the first place. If she woke up, tested her environment, and turned to find him like this. She would've been weary, of course, but if he swore to her-if he protected as he had done….

At first Jenny was a little unsure whether she should say anything at all, to sit like this-separated-as they were meant to be. They were complete opposites. They should never had the opportunity to have a normal conversation-to try and make _peace_. It was the complete unbalance of nature. She was human. He wasn't.

But Jenny was more afraid of staying as they were-apart in such silence, in a place of insanity. If this was how they were supposed to be, Jenny didn't like it. She didn't like it all.

So from the floor she asked, quietly, "Can you kill me?" She saw that Julian heard her, the slight movement of his head as if to look over his shoulder, but not completely doing so. "I mean…like, do you have the right? In here?"

Julian didn't answer right away. It was such a long moment that Jenny carefully got to her feet. It was after she was standing, without turning around, that Julian solemnly answered, "Yes."

"Are you saving it? To…kill me later?"

There was movement in his shoulders, an attempt at a shrug, and Julian lifted his head, but he stayed in his place, looking at the bask of black fog-like substance that surrounded them. "Perhaps."

Jenny didn't believe him. Maybe she should have, but she didn't. Not with how tight his voice had gotten, how he refused to face her when every other time he was teasing her he had looked right through her with such an arrogant tone to his voice. She was going to say something stern, like "Stop lying to me," but Jenny had a feeling that wouldn't work-that it would spark something nasty in the air, causing this conversation to go in circles. She was wrong. Their conversation wasn't normal at all. Julian never answered her simply like this. Even now he was trying to divert it. If Jenny wanted to keep it this connected, then she needed to talk on terms of a Shadow Man.

"What kind of conversation are we gonna have," she said a bit awkwardly, "if you lie to me?"

Once again there was a pause, but in the stilled silence there was no intensity or cruelty. Actually, Jenny watched Julian's shoulders relax if just slightly. Instead of answering her, Julian lifted one hand from the wall and with a flick of his wrist, everything changed. But it wasn't anything inside their containment that changed. It all happened in front of Julian, outside of their box. A light came on in the fog, and it all slowly pulled away, crowding back around to Jenny's side, revealing-

-the basement.

But, something was wrong. It was a little hazy, but Jenny could see it all; the desk in the left corner, the stairs on the right, the massive mess of papers and books and protective figurines-

But from where they were, she couldn't see the two bookcases across from the stairs. Instead, she saw large wooden rectangle pressed against the back of-of-

The wall, Jenny realized. She could see the thin line of power, just like before, running from the backs of the bookcases all the way across where Julian stood-where the third bookcase she should be-where the closet door stood.

They were seeing everything from the closet.

Before Jenny could even muster up a gasp, something emerged from the fog, coming down the stairs. It seemed to come from the fog, the figure taking shape out of the smoky substance until it had a solid form-and once it came down the stairs, Jenny finally did gasp.

Her grandfather, looking a bit younger in face, came down the stairs, hand-in-hand with Jenny-Only she was just a kid, five years old, in a bright yellow sundress and mismatched flip-flops. He was talking to her, although the real Jenny couldn't hear them. But Jenny didn't need to hear because she remembered this day-she remembered everything,

This was the first beginning of it all. This was the day her grandfather allowed her to enter the one place her and her cousin were always forbidden to go near. This was the day he showed her everything-the runes, the Shadow Men, the start of her new life.

Jenny was so enchanted in watching her ghost-like self being led around the basement, introduced to everything, with bright green eyes searching the room with impossible wonder, that when Julian spoke again it shocked her to the point of flinching.

"I could've killed you. I had the perfect opportunity-the others, my Ancestors…they wanted your grandfather. It was all they talked about. Getting revenge for locking us up. And when he brought you into it, they said if they couldn't have him, they'd take you. Just for spite."

Then the image of five-year-old Jenny was led to the third bookcase, to the hidden door. Jenny could see its invisible frame around Julian, glistening like some string in the air. And little Jenny walked right up to it-Jenny remembered, staring at the door so intrigued-

But now her image was looking right at Julian-who was behind the door-who had been behind the door all along.

Julian was staring right back with something twisted in his expression, something he couldn't seem to understand himself. His hands, still against the wall, slowly slid down to waist level, and he stood up straighter. He spoke again, with a tone that was softer than gauze, weaker than wet paper. "But I saw you, there, and….I didn't want to kill you. I couldn't picture it. There was something about you-Something the others didn't see. They laughed at me-called me foolish. But I didn't care. I just…."

Jenny couldn't take it. She really couldn't. With what he was saying, the way he was saying it, so painful. It only got worse when the image of Jenny put her hand on the door, right where Julian's sat, as if touching him through the door. Jenny couldn't take it-to think that Julian had been like that, right behind the door that very first day, and every day, and to feel like _this_ -

Suddenly the image of Jenny was gone, burst into a puff of black smoke, along with her grandfather. It collected together into one big cloud that soared over to the desk chair and formed into a new shape. This time it was Jenny when she was a bit older, perhaps seven, in her striped matching pajamas. The room had gotten dark, mind a single lamp from the desk-Jenny remembered. She had forgotten all about the time that day, and she always did it alone because she wanted no one to see.

She was sitting with a blade in her hand and a towel on her lap. Her hand was already bloody and swollen, but she still pricked the next finger, doing her best to swallow the pain. Jenny remembered her grandfather telling her she couldn't show pain-or fear because that was weakness. Shadow Men fed off of weakness and fear and pain-And Jenny hated pain. So she practiced, at the late hours of the night, until she convinced herself she was used to it. Even so, the image now was flinching very badly, and after the next cut, she wrapped her hand in the towel and choked on a sob.

The image faded again, puffing to smoke and separating again to form two more solids. Her grandfather was back, older, with Jenny again when she was eleven, about to be twelve. They were training, her grandfather with pads on his hands, and Jenny with nothing but her ring. He would strike at her, hit her with runes, and Jenny would try and block or attack back using different runes. It was both vocal and physical, although now it played before them like a silent film. It went on for a minute until Jenny missed-she messed up, and her grandfather knocked her right to the ground.

Julian's voice chorused the fight like water over rocks. "I watched you. We all did nothing but watch him train you, what he turned you into."

The image of Jenny got back up, but fell again. And again. And again. Each time, she got back up. She winced-She even cried, but she got back to her feet every time. "You were so beautiful…."

Jenny didn't want to see it, because now she knew that Julian had seen it. Julian had seen _everything_. And that realization, the thought of Julian watching her, now swearing to her, saving her, promising to show her the world-

But he could be lying. He could be taking these from her mind, to make her feel-feel-

Feel what? To feel like _this_?

She had to clear her throat, her mind, to think of something to say-anything. "Wh-What…did you mean…you had the chance to kill me?"

There was a pause, literally, the ghostly image of her and her grandfather froze in place, then once more dissipated. Only this time, Julian took a step away from the wall, turning to the side so Jenny had a full view of the closet door. Then a bright light erupted, taking up most of the room, blinding Jenny instantly. With it, came sound. There was an eruption of some kind, then pure chaos. Wind, shouting, cracking-It was purely unsettling after being in the silence for so long. The whole basement seemed to be shaking. It didn't make any sense, until Jenny saw just past the light. There was power, flying around like electricity, coming from in front of her, from the closet door. Behind it all, was her grandfather.

He was struggling. It was hard to tell at first, but the more Jenny looked, the more she saw. The door, he was pushing on the door-He was trying to _close_ the door. Something went wrong. His hand were covered in blood, cuts on his face and neck. He was screaming something, but it was drowned out over the commotion-

Then came the laughs. The Shadow Men. They were mocking him. They were laughing-

They were getting out.

The shrill scream came next and Jenny saw herself, just as she is, blouse and skirt and all, at the top of the stairs.

No, Jenny thought, but her image came running down anyway, cutting her palm open, screaming something.

It all happened so fast. Jenny's grandfather had lifted a hand, to stop her, but that was when the power _exploded_. It ruptured through the whole basement, throbbing the air, cracking the walls, turning over the desk, knocking everything off the shelves. The light expanded, covering everything in a massive flash.

Then, everything went still.

When the light faded a bit, Jenny's grandfather was gone. Everything was either broken or moved, and a large black streak stretched out from the closet door. Along with it, was ice. Ice filled the air, the walls, the cracks.

Jenny found herself not where she had last been, but at the bottom of the stairs, on the floor, unconscious-

With a pool of blood forming around her head.

Julian was explaining as Jenny was gasping. "If I had left with the others, you'd still be there. There was no one around-No one would've came in time. There would've been no way for me to get to you…." Julian's face tightened, eyebrows pinching together in frustration as he stared at the bloody image of Jenny. "But because of that rune…Because of your blasted grandfather….The door began to close again."

And Jenny saw it. She saw the light around the door frame, a few inches thick, slowly thinning out, spreading into the door itself, swallowing it up. Then something touched her image on the floor, something that made her body glisten and glow. Then the light sealed up the door and the image faded completely, the black fog swallowing up everything until there was nothing but blackness outside once more.

Heat struck Jenny's eyes and with a painful realization she found herself crying. Her hand was on the back of her head where the headache had returned, throbbing in her temples, at the wound in the back of her head that she couldn't feel through her hair. She finally looked to Julian who was just bringing his gaze up to her, and she couldn't even think of what to say. She was stuck between gasping and sobbing and her voice was stuck somewhere in her throat.

Finally, she gasped out, "I-I'm…. _dead_ …?"

Julian looked almost surprised at the question, and he quickly shook his head. "No. I pulled you in here just as it happened."

"It was _you_?" Jenny asked, voice straining. "You brought me here?"

"Just your soul. Your consciousness, to keep you alive. Your body…."

Julian didn't have to finish because Jenny understood, and she covered her mouth with a breaking cry. She was still there. She had been right, they were in the closet, trapped in there all along, while Jenny's body was still lying there, bleeding out on the floor, with no one around to find her or save her-

 _Save_ her. Julian saved her. Again. From the beginning he had saved her.

No, it was more than that, she realized slowly. The door had been open. His ancestors left. They were leaving and Jenny came and everything fell apart-But her grandfather had got it to close again. It was closing-it was finally open and then it was closing-And Julian chose her. He grabbed her….instead of leaving. His once chance of freedom, of revenge, after all those years, and he saved her instead.

Realizing that made Jenny look back to the Shadow Man who had turned his gaze away. She didn't understand, and Jenny came to accept the fact that maybe she wouldn't ever fully understand this demon of shadows, but now that she knew this-the fact that this Shadow Man was different-That he gave up something so intense just to keep her alive-Was….

Jenny had to steady her breath, but she was soon able to speak clearly. "You gave up your freedom…for me….? Thank you…."

Surprisingly, Julian did not answer her. He looked to the fog outside one more time, and for a moment Jenny could picture him like that, for years, constantly staring, constantly watching, waiting for the day he could be free again-

What would he have done if he had gotten free again? Would he still watch her from the shadows? What was it like? To live in the shadows, always looking down on Earth, wrecking havoc and chaos wherever you go-

Jenny couldn't understand it fully, but if it was anything like this-

It must've been….lonely.

Jenny didn't even know she had been reaching for Julian, stepping closer to him, until something shocked her hand. Almost like a separate wall, invisible to Jenny, had rejected her hand, preventing her from moving where she was. She gasped at it, recoiling from the shock.

"Don't pity me," Julian snapped, still without looking at her.

With a shock, Jenny realized she _was_ pitying the Shadow Man, and she quickly swallowed that down like a lump of hot coal, scorching it's way down to her core. "Pity you?" That came out small, so Jenny fixed it quickly, stood up straighter, and wiped away her tears. "If I pitied you…I would've opened the door that first day and let you out. Not help you stay locked up."

Slowly, Julian smiled at that, and it was so gentle and so full of inevitable admiration that Jenny felt her knees go weak. She hated it, what had happened, what she was now reduced to because of this man-this demon-but she didn't know how to fix it anymore.

She admitted, "My grandfather…..I-I don't-know where he is…."

Julian finally returned her gaze, and he studied her carefully for a minute before answering. "He can't get to you, Jenny. Not physically, not mentally. In a way, he's as trapped as you are."

Jenny believed that. If he wasn't she would've been free by now-He wouldn't have disappeared after that last explosion. But Jenny didn't want to think about what happened to him-She couldn't because then Julian was moving closer to her, slowly advancing on her in such a way that it was drawing her in, forcing all of her attention to center around him.

And the look on his face, like still water, was somehow so weak that it drained the strength out of their whole containment, weakening even the air, making it hard for Jenny to breathe. There wasn't any possible room for any kind of fighting.

It almost hurt to speak. "You really don't want to hurt me?"

"Jenny, you'll never understand how much I loathe that thought."

"Swear you won't kill me?"

"On the stave my name is carved on."

He meant the branch-the thing her grandfather had mentioned, how Shadow Men are born-created by a single scratch on this massive rock.

With Julian now mere inches from here, Jenny was looking up at him, and she hesitated. She couldn't help it. Of course he'd say that. Of course he talks so sweetly. It's probably what all Shadow Men do, but he saved her-Shadow Men don't do that. He swore on Pethro, and he couldn't break that. Jenny had to believe that. And if she was wrong, well then she deserved to die for putting her life in the hands of a Shadow Man.

"Prove it."

"Give me permission."

Oh God, she couldn't. She _couldn't_ , but that stung, right in-between Jenny's ribs, somewhere she couldn't cradle to take away the pain. She almost felt like crying again. She almost didn't get the words out. "I-I can't-"

Then he did something Jenny was entirely unprepared for.

He dropped to the ground, knelt before her, and bowed.

It was like something from ancient times, a hand on the chest over the heart, head down, a complete sign of submission. Jenny couldn't breathe.

When he did look back up, he took his free hand, offering it palm-up, asking without words. Jenny didn't know what kind of person could refuse it, but she envied them greatly. She gave him her hand, with her breath caught in her throat, and knees as weak as twigs.

It was the kiss, pressed against the back of her hand so gently, one that seemed to burn to the point of leaving a mark, that imprinted their connection into the rest of the world.

….-

There was no more fighting after that. Oh but there was arguing-Genuine, playful arguments and questions and games-Lots of games.

Julian showed her everything. He showed her bits and pieces of what the other realms were like. He introduced her to every creature that were only in myths and legends, and every time he allowed Jenny to touch it, ride it, even fight it. He taught her everything, answered all her questions, and never once let her get hurt.

In turn, Jenny was surprisingly enjoying herself. Perhaps she should feel bad about that, but there wasn't anything she could do-trapped in a closet with no way out-nothing to go back to. And as Julian showed off his skills, Jenny got to show off her own. She learned about the realms, about everything, even a little about Julian. It was odd when talking about Julian and sometime's things got a bit heated, but Jenny had learned that he was the youngest of the Shadow Men and that he had been trapped not long after he was created.

Julian fancied talking about Jenny more, or just hearing Jenny talk. Sometimes Jenny believed he wasn't even listening half the time, but merely watching her talking, as if utterly fascinated with the way she looked when she talked or something. Of course he teased her when she called him out on it. He _always_ teased her.

Jenny didn't know how long it had been. Time didn't really matter anymore. The only time Jenny remembered about time was from the frequent headaches.

Now, Jenny found herself running through a thrush of woods, in a pair of capris, a tank top, and some tennis shoes. Her hair was flying in her face, making her frantic to see clearly as she dodged trees and bushes. The rumble of ground behind her made her quickly dive behind one of the trees, pausing to catch her breath.

"Oh, that won't work." The smooth voice came from above her, making Jenny tilt her head back. Julian was in the tree, leaning against the trunk like it was no big deal, legs crossed, playing with a leaf. "It can smell you, you know."

"Yeah," Jenny panted. "I know. You didn't tell me how fast it is."

"I didn't?" he asked with a smirk, glancing down at her.

All Jenny managed was a smile before there was a terrible crack from behind her. Reflexively, she ducked, covering her head before looking around the tree.

It was called an Amarok, a very ancient and very powerful wolf. The God of all wolves, if you will, ten times the size of one, with acidic saliva, claws the size of swords, jaws more powerful than any man-made machine.

It was currently stalking Jenny at the moment, head hung low, jaws separated, snarling, panting, watching. It already saw Jenny and it dove at her in a blink of her eye. Jenny jumped out of the way, watching those claws strike the tree, sending chunks of wood flying. There was a tremor, then the tree collapsed over, right beside Jenny. But she couldn't focus on the tree because the monster dog was snapping at her. She stabbed her palm at the same time she shouted some rune that literally knocked the wolf back. But it was a weak attempt because the Amarok was coming back, driving his nuzzle into the ground where Jenny had been before she jumped up.

She didn't wait, she kept running.

She didn't see him this time, but she heard him clear as day. "Very sloppy, Jenny."

"Oh, bite me."

"Maybe later, love. But right now-"

Jenny screamed as the tree behind her ruptured at the swing of the next swing of claws. Jenny stumbled to the ground from the commotion and she quickly dove behind a crowd of trees that was too thick for the beast to just easily bound through. She didn't waste any time, and she immediately found the sharpest thing around her-currently a rock-and started carving into the dirt.

She spotted the black boots in the corner of her eye and when she glanced, found Julian leaning against it, still playing with the leaf from before.

"How about a wager?" he said calmly while the wolf was hammering against trees a mere five feet away. "For the winner of this game."

Jenny's jaw dropped while she continued to carve the marking into the dirt. "You've got to be kidding."

"What do you say?"

One of the trees came crashing down, making Jenny shout a rune to stall the Amarok a bit further. Then she got up and jumped to the other side of her marking, expanding it further, drawing the shape as quickly as she could. Then she tossed the rock and cut open her palm once again.

"What do you mean 'wager?'"

"A prize, of course."

Jenny could only laugh because she was squeezing her palm as hard as she could, allowing the blood to drip into the dirt.

"If you win, I'll give you something. If I win, you give me something."

"And the rules?" Jenny asked, but she never got her answer.

The Amarok broke through the trees, sending the trunks down in a chaotic turmoil. Jenny jumped back immediately, doing her best to stay clear of the trees when such a beast was charging at her. But with her quick concession of indications, the marking in the ground began to glow, and within seconds, a barrier formed itself in the air. It was like a netting of power formed in an instant catching itself between the trees that still stood, rising higher than the Amarok itself. It was supposed to deflect it, the power using the Amarok's strength to fuel the barrier to be even stronger, slowly draining the beast.

Instead, the beast stepped right in front of the marking that held the barrier, and with a viscous growl, it rammed its head right through the barrier. There was some kind of break, a spark, and the barrier completely shattered. Jenny, shocked, couldn't even get an attempt at running away.

The Amarok was on her in a blink of an eye. She shouted a rune, probably one that didn't even make sense for this fight, but she said it too late. The Amarok swiped at her, and she screamed.

But the blow never came. There was a long silence where Jenny waited for the pain, and when it didn't, she spared a glance. The beast's paw, as tall as the trees and wide as a car, stopped right at her feet. Julian was before her, a single hand on the Amarok's paw, stilling it. There was a moment, where something rumbled in the distance-probably another tree falling-and the nearby dust and dirt settled.

Julian looked back at Jenny and smiled. "I win," he said simply and snapped his fingers.

The Amarok gave a growl, but it slowly withdrew its paw. Then it sauntered back into the woods, leaving Jenny on the ground as she was.

Jenny had to take a breath. If Julian hadn't have stopped it, it probably would've ripped her to shreds with those massive claws. Then eat her remains and use her bones as toothpicks. Instead, she noticed as she sat up, the only scratch she had was the scrape on her elbow-thin, but bleeding.

When she found Julian smirking down at her like that, she couldn't help but feel a bit undermined. "Y-You cheated."

"I did no such thing."

"You distracted me."

"You weren't even faltered," Julian said as he knelt in front of her. "It was marvelous, really."

Jenny met those sapphire eyes to find the Shadow Man holding out his hand. He didn't have to say anything. Jenny knew what he was asking for, but she looked at her elbow again, brushing off the dirt. "It's fine."

"Jenny."

Well there really wasn't any arguing with that tone. With a roll of her eyes, Jenny put her bloody elbow in his palm, watching him pull a bowl of some paste out of nowhere. With a gentle finger he applied the silver goo to her wound, where the touch burned. The second she hissed in pain, Julian got her attention with a separate finger under her chin, lifting it away from the wound, forcing her to look into such impossible blue.

"You lost the wager, you know."

Jenny almost gasped, but a pinch from her elbow prevented that. "Ah-What? No, we didn't seal that-"

"Yes, we did."

"You didn't say the rules."

"The same rules as always. Anything you or I want."

Her elbow burned again, and Jenny had to clench her eyes shut in order to stifle the groan of pain. She sighed and looked away. "Fine, what is it?"

"I want a kiss."

He said it quickly-too quickly. The blood rushed to Jenny's ears, blocking out any sound. She didn't know if she gasped or whimpered or anything like that, but she prayed she didn't. She couldn't even look at him. Not at first. She stared down at the ground, eyes bugging out of her head, and the fact that the Shadow Man was watching her, knowing he was getting such satisfaction from her reaction, was infuriating.

Finally Jenny looked back when he closed both hands around her elbow, covering the wound. His eyes were just so soft, such exotic pools of blue that were gentle enough to catch her-support all her weight. It was so easy to get lost in them. Especially when the breeze was so light, and the leaves rustling around them, and the light shining so perfectly from behind him, and with him leaning so close already-

It was the lack of space, of the heat of his skin, watching such beauty-such power closing in on her, feeling her breath hit his lips-his lips-Julian's-A Shadow Man's lips-

"Ow!" Jenny jerked away as the pain struck her elbow. Julian's grip had become impossibly tight to the point where Jenny felt herself bruising, but when she looked at her elbow, her wound was gone, without even the faint remainder of a scar. She stared, baffled for a moment, before Julian laughed.

He was standing now, chuckling at her reactions. "Well, I didn't think that would work so well."

Jenny didn't get it at first, but when she did-realizing that his ask for a kiss was merely a distraction from the pain-she felt the heat rush to her face. She scoffed, "You jerk."

"Aw, is that any way to thank me?"

"Why would I thank someone like you? You're a jerk." She asked as she got to her feet, brushing off the dirt from her pants.

"I do have to admit, Jenny…" He waited until Jenny met his gaze where his eyelids were drooped, and his smirk so damn cocky that it made Jenny's blood feel ten times lighter. "I have never seen your eyes so light before-lighter than emeralds. Tell me, did the thought of kissing me fluster you _that_ much?"

The embarrassment swelled up faster than Jenny could even understand. She didn't even know what to say because he smiled wider, winning the game.

"No! It didn't, you pig! You're just-I was- _Ankh_!" she snapped the Egyptian rune as fiercely as she could, but of course all Julian had to do was flick his wrist and avoided the attack. Jenny groaned in frustration, and he laughed. So she attempted a kick, knowing very well it would fail. But she used the time it took him to catch her ankle to throw a punch at his throat. He barely caught that, without his smile faltering the slightest bit. He spun her around him, forcing Jenny to pivot in her stand and try to hit him with her elbow. He caught that, too, and held her in place for just a second, his head over her shoulder with such a look in those eyes. Jenny tried to scowl, she really did, the embarrassment was only worse-

But as he spun her back around, attempting at grabbing her by the waist, Jenny couldn't fight the smile. She swatted his hand away as she jumped out of his grip, but he spun her around so fast that she stumbled, landing against a tree. The second she saw him over her, trapping her against the trunk, she jabbed her knee up and said another rune. He jumped back, only to have Jenny lurch forward after him.

It was scuffling like this that made Jenny's body go light, to make everything tingle and feather-like, free of pain or concern or anger. They never hurt each other, but it was always a fight for the top, for dominance, that much resembled a dance. Either way, Jenny was always laughing at the end of it.

She was laughing now as Julian released her, fixing her shirt as she started an insult against the Shadow Man. But it was in the next instant-her slight stumble, her eyes rolling back into her head-

Jenny collapsed without warning, but Julian was already there, catching the upper half of her body. He dropped with her, cradling her head as he lowered her unconscious body gently to the ground. The grass and the trees faded within seconds, placing them back into the black box of their containment.

This also happened quite often. Jenny's moments of passing out were either very subtle or very sudden. Sometimes she could feel it coming and had enough time to lay down. Other times it was like this, dropping like a doornail, but Julian caught her. He _always_ caught her.

It worried him; how fragile her psyche had become in this dimensional cage. He wondered how long it would last, in full strength like this, before it started to desiderate, to fall to pieces, to nothing-

Julian worried over it every fucking moment. To know it would happen eventually and there was nothing he could do about it.

Well, nothing was understatement. He was a Shadow Man. He could do _anything_. But for Jenny…he **would** do anything. Even if he was limited in here. He brought her here, he saved her from death physically. Now he had to do it mentally.

Jenny didn't know. She didn't need to. Half the time she didn't even remember losing consciousness. Besides, when Jenny was concerned with something, the bridge of her nose would crinkle and bundle up between her eyes, creating a bump on such a perfect piece of beauty. Julian hated it.

Thus, he changed the shadows once again, to the interior of some homey log cabin, with wooden floors and thick blankets and the sickly-sweet smell of pine and a nearby campfire; Things Jenny found comforting. He laid her there, on the softest bed, as he leaned against the rough texture of the wall with her on his lap. Her head was on his chest, hands in his lap. He bundled her in blankets, and waited.

He could wake her, but really, that look on her face, skin as smooth as marble, not a single flaw. She was glowing even in her sleep. And how _fragile_ she looked.

This was the only place Julian felt… _whole_. With Jenny in his arms like this, secure, with everything in his grasp. She couldn't go home-not with a damaged body waiting for her. But she couldn't last here. Not with her psyche slowly slipping away. She wasn't meant to be here, but she wouldn't last back on Earth. If only he could take her away-as a whole-in a world she would last in. In a world she would _like_.

Julian pondered this constantly, desperately trying to find a way to have her- **completely**. The more he watched her, breathing so deeply, eyes closed so softly, he couldn't help but get furious. Furious at his lack of choices-at all the things standing in his way. He would destroy it. He would destroy everything in a heart beat.

For her….

When Jenny finally awoke again, it was after a long while. She stirred a bit, bringing her hands up to Julian's chest a bit in confusion, but then she felt Julian's fingers in her hair. He ran them across her scalp and down its shimmering length, sending little shocks across Jenny's skin. It woke her up. It brought her back.

She didn't even bother to open her eyes after that. She laid there for a minute, processing, basking in how soft Julian's touch was.

"I passed out again…didn't I?"

"Yes."

Jenny sighed and opened her eyes. She was surprised by their new environment, lifting her head just slightly to take a log at the redwood logs of the walls, and to take in that sweet smell of pine. It soothed all anxiety, all oddness of unbalance in her head.

She added after another minute, "Did you catch me?"

"Of course."

"Hm."

They sat like that for just a bit longer; Julian with his gaze constantly on her, with his hands still in her hair, while Jenny stayed curled up on his lap, resting her head and hands against his chest. It was a blissful moment that was easily lost in the universe.

Then Julian broke it. "You still lost the wager, you know."

"Oh my God."

Jenny sat up, grabbing her head for stability. She sounded angry, yes, but a smile was fighting her lips. "You're unbelievable."

"Why, thank you."

Jenny glared and Julian chuckled. He sat back against the wall while Jenny bundled herself up with the blankets better. It was so hard for Julian to take his gaze off of her, but she had the best reactions when he did. So he turned his head away, even closed his eyes.

"I believe a thank you is in order if I do say so myself. I've caught you countless times, saved you more than that, and I even go out of my way to make something like this to comfort you. Not to mention I recently stopped an Amarok from hurting you _and_ healed you-Now if that doesn't deserve a thank you, then I'm not sure-"

Julian actually didn't see it coming. He expected a hit, a rune, a defiance of some sort. But now Jenny was leaning across the bed, kissing his cheek so _lightly_. It was like the touch of a butterfly's wing, just a graze but what a **blissful** touch it was.

Jenny didn't hold it for long. She pulled away almost as soon as she'd done it, the same time Julian had stopped talking. She had planned on saying something snappy, to jump away and brush it off like just another game. But Julian looked at her and she was trapped.

"Th-Thank you…." She mumbled so quietly it was almost inaudible, then quickly added, "Jerk."

Julian couldn't even respond. He was staring at her like she was the most fascinating thing in the world, like he honest to God couldn't believe what he was seeing. It made everything in Jenny collapse to nothing, then rebuild itself. It was such a marvelous feeling to be on the other end of that kind of gaze. Jenny wasn't used to it at all. But she could see herself doing so.

So she gave the Shadow Man a small smile in the silence. "I'm gonna…try getting up now." She took the blankets with her as she scooted to the end of the large bed and swung her feet over the edge. Julian still didn't say a single word as she stood up, unable to fathom the feeling inside him. It was warm. It was settling. It was perfect.

Jenny was looking back at him when she took a step.

Then everything burst.

Their whole box shook greatly, disintegrating the fake interior in seconds. The second the bed disappeared Julian hit the blackened floor hard, and before he could even get up, power from the floor snatched him in place. Like arms of shadows they wrapped around him similar to netting, pinning him to the ground that didn't exist. And it _burned_.

Jenny had fallen to her knees from the commotion and she shouted when she saw Julian. Their gazes met and that's when the light came. From somewhere deep in the fog under them, it ate away the shadows, fractured the very being of the containment. Like spears they shot up, piercing through the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Soon it all shattered and they had no time to react.

Jenny had reached for Julian, throwing her hand out desperately, right before she dropped.

" _Jenny_!"

All Jenny was aware of was the wind, the gut-sinking feeling, and the pressure. So much pressure-it burned. It hurt. It enveloped her everywhere, growing tighter and tighter. It started at her toes, squeezing to the point of popping each one, then up her calves, to her chest where it hurt to breathe. When it got her face, she was sure her head was going to explode. Just when the pressure finally ruptured, releasing such a painful wave of relief down her body, is when the world slapped back to her.

It came like a punch to the chest, filling her with so much air so quickly that her body jumped up. She sat up shouting, screaming right into the pair of arms. Her first thought was Julian, but these arms were thicker, older, larger-

The man that caught her was a complete stranger, with such white walls behind him. It actually burned her eyes how bright this place was. Jenny fought him immediately, screaming as he tried to catch her flailing arms.

Nothing made sense. There was shouting, crashing, beeping, and more people. People in the same matching blue scrubs and same tags-

Jenny was about to use some runes to get these people off of her when she saw them. The two faces behind the window, with such concerned eyes. The woman covering her mouth. The man holding her, both looking right at her. Jenny knew those faces.

Seeing her aunt and uncle seemed to piece things together. Jenny stopped fighting and actually looked at her environment-at the nurses surrounding her bed, at the IV in her arm, the monitor by her bed. She was suddenly aware of how heavy her head was, how badly it began to hurt, how the pressure inside was pressing against the walls of her mind, scratching like claws, digging its way to her skin, burning every damn inch.

They sat her back easily, turning the dial on one of the machines at her side to inject the morphine into her system. Jenny watched him with a painful gaze. It hurt to look, to keep her eyes open. Her body was sore, even between her toes. It hurt to see her relatives outside the room. It hurt to breathe.

She was dreaming. She had to be. She was still unconscious, back in the box with Julian-but it hurt. It never hurt before and it hurt so bad-the tears were inevitable. They came streaming down her cheeks in wet, truth-bearing streaks that stung far deep in her chest to the point where it destroyed everything inside Jenny.

…-

It took her quite a while to calm down, but the medicine helped. Her aunt and uncle came in explaining how Zach found her unconscious on the basement floor-just as Julian had shown her. The doctors said she was in a coma due to a major concussion. They told her it had been _weeks_. She had been in the hospital this whole time, unconscious, on the brink of death. When she woke up, it was out of nowhere and the machines had gone haywire.

Jenny took it all in a like a sponge, absorbing everything, hearing everything, but none of it seemed to stick. She felt hollow inside, like she had been carved out, ripped away from herself and thrown into this bleeding, bruised body. Nothing felt right. Eating was strange. Jenny didn't remember the last time she ate. Even going to the bathroom was something she had to basically relearn how to do.

It was there that she stood in front of the mirror for a very long time. Her reflection was an utter wreck. Her blonde hair was in tangles, a good chunk missing completely in the back from they had to do surgery. Wrapped around her head was a couple layers of bandages, leaving only her bangs to sit over them. Her green eyes were outlined in red, with dark bags underneath. There was a cut under her eye, surrounded by a dark bruise. The rest of her body was scarred like no other, and her hand had a massive gash across the palm, still healing.

For the longest time she stared at herself, at the empty space of the bathroom behind her, desperately waiting for him to pop up in the reflection. She waited for him, she really did, but he didn't appear.

Jenny even went to sleep, thinking that somehow it would end. She would wake back up in the box, in Julian's lap like she was supposed to. Instead she woke to the hospital announcing a code red over the speaker. She rolled off her side to her back where she saw the dirty blonde hair and wide gray eyes. Zach was sitting at the end of her bed with that same unbearable look he gave her that day he cut her.

Jenny sat up immediately where he stood and embraced her. They didn't say anything. They didn't need to. But Jenny had so many things to ask him.

When they released, Zach sat back down, a bit closer than before, with his hands on her leg. It was a while before he said, "Aunt and Uncle went to find your surgeon. To ask him questions. Are you all right? Your head-"

He touched her bandages and Jenny barely managed a nod. She accepted that with the fact that there were no more nurses or adults nearby. It was just them, the two cousins trained in dark sorcery.

"I didn't know you could get trapped in there. I didn't know what to do. I panicked-"

"Where's Grandpa?" It was the first question she could think to ask. "Do you know where he is? He wasn't in the basement, was-Oh."

The look on Zach's face said it all.

Another moment of silence passed where Jenny didn't know if she wanted to cry or scream or collapse. Perhaps pass out again.

"The door wasn't open," Zach said, slowly. "I was practicing, and it sounded like an explosion. When I came downstairs, I saw you a-and-"

Jenny had to grab her cousin's hands. They were balled into fists, clenching the blankets of Jenny's bed so tight that his knuckles were white. He looked at her afterwards and there was something very deep about his eyes-almost like a bottomless pit, unable to end, unable to be filled.

"I knew you weren't dead."

Jenny felt her eyebrows pinch together in confusion. "You didn't?"

Zach shook his head and he sat up straighter, pulling his hands away. "I mean, not at first. I called an ambulance, got you here. But after they said you were in a coma, I started to think about it. The door was closed, but there was marks all over the floor and ice everywhere. They got out-I don't know how, but they did. And with your body still there, I…."

Jenny didn't get it. She did, a part of her did understand, but she pushed it away. She didn't want to understand because she didn't want to feel what came with the understanding. But Zach opened his hands in his lap, and Jenny's heart sank.

His palm was open, still swollen and red from the fresh wound. He had it poorly bandaged, no wonder Jenny didn't see it at first. But now that she did-it all made sense.

"I'm sorry. I tried to do it faster. I had to look in Grandfather's book, to try and find the proper seal-"

"You opened it…" Jenny didn't fully realize she had spoken because it didn't sound like her voice at all.

Zach didn't look up. "I tried. I tried to seal them down and open the door. I thought you would come right out-"

Jenny had Zach's shoulder in her hand, pushing him back a bit, forcing him to lift his head. "You used a _seal_? You used a seal as you opened the door? You locked him down and you got me out-"

"What do you mean _him_?"

Jenny didn't answer. Her mind was still racing with too may things, trying to clarify everything with the image of Julian's pained expression as he sat there pinned to the ground, unable to grab her. "Why would you _do_ that?"

" **What**?" Zach was on his feet, face tight with confusion. "Why? _Why_? I knew you were trapped in there! And if there were any Shadow Men, I had to make sure-"

"You could've gotten killed!" Jenny stressed. "They could've taken you, too-"

"I didn't care! I wanted you out of there!" Zach backed away from the bed, holding out his bloody palm like it was some foreign attachment he didn't want. "I had to get you out, no matter what. You couldn't be locked up in there forever. Even if I was wrong, I wasn't going to sit here and watch you rot away in this hospital bed-Are you seriously mad at me?"

"No-I-Just-No, I'm sorry. It's…." Jenny had to cover her face. She was-but she shouldn't be. She knew she shouldn't be. She should be glad. She was free. She was home. She was alive. She was here and Julian was-

"Julian."

"What?"

"He-I…" Jenny took a deep breath. She couldn't look at her cousin. "I was conscious in there. There was a Shadow Man in there-"

"Oh God."

"No, it was just him. All the others had escaped, but he didn't get out because…."

It was looking at her cousin that she realized how crazy the whole thing sounded-how crazy it _was_. Saved by a Shadow Man, trapped with him, played with him, fell for him-

"What did he do? Are you…" He was a bit closer now, pressing at her. "Did he-Could he-"

"No," Jenny cut him off. "He didn't have the right. But…we talked." She saw the change in his face, the unbelievable expression of disbelief. "We just talked…A lot. I didn't play his games or take what he gave me. But…. I mean, he was…."

Zach must've noticed the twinge in her voice because his look of surprise turned to suspicion in a heart beat. "He was what?"

Jenny had to swallow a lump in her throat. "Different."

"Jenny!"

"You don't get it, Zach! We were trapped together. He couldn't hurt me-I mean, he could, but he swore not to and he protected me-"

"You're kidding me. What did Grandfather tell us?"

"I know what he told us. I was careful. I fought him, a little-at first-"

"And you let him win."

"No! We, well, decided to play a game."

"Are you _listening_ to yourself?"

"He gave up his freedom to save me!"

To that, Zach went quiet. He seemed to be processing something very troubling, so jenny took the silence to explain. "It's stupid, I know, but…I thought I was going crazy. I didn't know how to get out without releasing him, and I couldn't just ignore him. He controlled everything there. He showed me what happened. The Shadow Men were getting out. Grandfather was trying to stop them. I tried to help and it just…exploded. I would've died, Zach."

"Stop."

"Julian could've left. He could've gotten out. He didn't. He saved me instead-"

"He _trapped you_. How is that saving you?"

"I would've bled out on the floor. He said no one was around to save me-"

"I was _outside_!"

The raise in Zach's voice made everything in Jenny rattle. A few people outside the room looked their way, but Jenny couldn't look away from her cousin, who was staring at her so intently.

"I was right outside. I ran in _the_ second I heard you scream. Did you seriously believe him, Jenny? He was _lying_ -"

"No. He showed me-"

"Yeah, he showed you what you wanted to see, Jenny. To trust him."

"No I made him swear."

"Like that means _anything_."

"It did! It was different, Zach. I know it's stupid, but-"

"But what? You trusted him?"

Surprisingly Jenny couldn't find it in her to answer her cousin, and she hated it. Especially when the realization came into Zach's face, turning into total shock, then pure anger.

"Wow. Well… I'm so sorry that I ripped you away from your demon boyfriend."

"No, Zach, don't-"

But Zach stormed out of the room, leaving Jenny alone once more.

 **Good? I struggled a lot with these last few scenes. I really hope they're ok DX Please review and let me know what you think. I wrote this instead of working like I was supposed to but oh well. I'll have to pull all nighter's now to get work done but who cares! JulianxJenny forever! XD I'll try and update faster for you guys. Please excuse any mistakes in the mean time.**

 **Till my next update!**

 **ZVA**


	4. Chapter 4

Jenny would be damned if she forgot that day. From the kiss, to waking up, to escaping. Well, escaping felt like a harsh word. She wasn't trapped in the hospital so there was no escaping, but she did leave. Without permission.

She did it when it was very late, while her aunt and uncle were asleep. It wasn't supposed to be a problem. She turned off the monitor before she unhooked herself. She took out the IV carefully, and locked herself in the nearest bathroom. Jenny remembered it all, even now. She remembered using something sharp to carve the door. She remembered she didn't have to cut herself; she just needed lights, which there were. It was an old Egyptian portal, used way back in time to avoid dark spirits. It involved marking of runes, lights, and a door. And so long as you knew where you were going, and so long as that following door was closed, you could go anywhere.

Jenny was going back home. To her grandfather's house, more specifically the basement. She needed to know. Zach clearly wasn't going to listen, and her aunt and uncle knew nothing of what they've been learning about for the past eight years. So Jenny was going to ask Julian.

 _If_ she could. She knew she wasn't going to open the door, if it was closed. It could very well be open. But, if it was then Zach would've been taken. So it had to be closed, and if the seal worked, then Julian was still inside. Jenny wasn't completely sure how she would be able to talk to Julian without releasing him-or without going back in-She couldn't-but she planned on going through her grandfather's journals in order to find a way.

Her grandfather. That was another thing Jenny planned on asking him. Once she had her answers, she was going to find him. Now that she was home, now that she was still alive, she was going to find a way. She just prayed her grandfather had something helpful written down to guide her.

Jenny remembered she couldn't go directly to the basement door. She had no idea if it was left open or closed after Zach had gotten her body out of the house. So she connected the portal to the door she always knew was closed-the door that was hardly used because her grandfather hardly ever left the house. The back door.

Back then, it didn't make sense; what had happened. Now, Jenny understood perfectly. Because when she said the runes aloud, summoned the portal to connect, and opened the door, she did not see her grandfather's backyard.

She saw fire.

Flames erupted higher than the doorframe, crawling out against the walls, puffing out in waves of uncontrollable heat. The fire alarm in the hospital went off immediately, sending the sprinklers off everywhere. Jenny remembered being afraid of getting caught, of being blamed for trying to set the hospital on fire, but she didn't understand the fire-she didn't know if that was her grandfather's house at all, she could've done it wrong. But she didn't have time to figure it out.

She took a deep breath and jumped.

The heat had only enveloped her for a second before she hit grass. Jenny remembered scrambling up, running away from the flames that were stabbing at her back. And when she turned around, what she expected to see as the back of her grandfather's house was nothing more than one massive flame.

It was like something out of a movie. Only the faint outline of the house could be seen as a deep charcoal black, hidden behind a curtain of fire. The heat was so intense, Jenny felt her skin aching, sweating even from the distance. It towered over her, roaring, hissing, _screaming_ -

No, that was her.

" _ **No!**_ "

The next thing Jenny remembered was being at the front of the house, she must've ran around the side gate because she remembered staring at it from the street, with the three fire trucks and the hoses and the smoke. She had fought them, she remembered, when they tried to settle her down-No, they were stopping her from running inside. That's right. She had been trying to get inside, or at least to the basement. Everything was in the basement, everything that she knew, that she breathed; the ancient artifacts, the journals, the training supplies, the closet-

But she never made it. Jenny remembered being handed off to an EMT and placed on the back of the ambulance truck. Being in a hospital gown and bandages around her bloody head really didn't help her. It didn't matter anyway because Jenny stopped fighting when one of the EMT's moved, revealing the back of another ambulance, where she saw Zach.

Her cousin had a blanket around him, a burn on his arm and his face, and he was studying her very carefully from across the street. Jenny had stared at him for a long time, studying back, understanding everything very slowly as he eventually tore his gaze away from her. Jenny remembered crying. She remembered sitting there, wondering how she could be so cold when there was so much fire nearby-so warm like the one Julian had given her after she passed out-Julian-The closet-The house-Her grandfather-

The pain she felt that day, she wondered what it could compare to. It resided in her chest, smothering her lungs, making her choke on sobs, as she watched her life-and her connection to the Shadow Man-scorch away with the house that her cousin burned down.

Jenny thought it silly to be so sore about it all. Well, after four years a lot of things had changed. She made more friends in school. She got closer to Tom. Zach was still…Zach. And ever since that day, neither of them had continued with the training.

At least, not like before.

Jenny hadn't given up. She tried to salvage anything from the fire, but the adults, including her parents, had refused to allow a child to go near such wreckage. She was able to grab some things, but it was all gone. Especially her grandfather's journals, her guidebooks, were nothing but ash.

When she got back home all those years ago, she wrote down everything she knew, everything her grandfather had taught her. And she tried to study more into them, she did, but nothing was the same. Nothing ever made perfect sense. It was like trying to draw a perfect circle when every centimeter you drew, the line got bigger, farther apart, never connected, only resulting in endless swirls.

Zach tried to stop her. He refused all of the hunting ways. He said without their grandfather they were going to get killed. Jenny had tried to convince him otherwise, that they could find their grandfather, they could try and save him-But he never listened. He stifled it all. Jenny understood. She knew she should drop it, too, but…being raised on something for seven years was simply hard to just let go of completely.

Not to mention…the dreams she had.

She wondered if somehow Shadow Men could affect her mind while she was asleep. It was possible, she was sure; just another tactic to drive men insane. But still it baffled Jenny because these dreams didn't scare her at all. A part of her always hated herself when she woke up. She even attempted at putting some seals around her pillow before she went to bed, but when those didn't help she really couldn't fight it. But it wasn't like she should be ashamed of dreaming about the Shadow Man, not after what they went through. She dreamed of their scuffles, of their games, of his tricks, his smirk-of where else he would've taken her, what he would've shown her, of what would've happened if Zach hadn't opened the door.

The part of her that hated it, the part that always felt guilty, would surface when she awoke because then her next thought would be of Tom. And that she never dreamt about him.

Even so, Jenny tried to find Julian. She knew where he was, and there was only one way to get there-

-And going there meant never coming back.

But that was…if Julian was still alive.

She had no idea what the fire could've done with Julian still in the closet. It certainly didn't kill him, his name would've had to been erased from the stave, but that didn't mean he was free. He could still be locked up somewhere-trapped-in a place Jenny could only call Limbo, forever.

Thinking about it now, four years later, Jenny had to physically shake the shivers away. She hated thinking about Julian. She noticed it so damn often that it was starting to make her sick. Mostly because when she thought about him now, after everything, all she could remember-all she could _feel_ was the way she did when he saved her-how she pitied him, how vulnerable they were towards each other….

Even now, sitting at the old wooden table, surrounded by all the screams of joy from the rides and buzzers from the park's arcade, she stared at the water bottle in her hands, thinking of the water in the Leviathan's cavern. She knew it was foolish, but she never could help it on this day. Four years exactly from the day she was freed from the closet. She never kept track of it on the calendar or anything like that, but whenever the day came around, she always noticed, and she always wondered.

Although this year was just poor timing. Because today was the only day all of her friends were free, all six including Zach, and they had planned an entire day trip to the Amusement Park. It was supposed to be fun, Jenny had been looking forward to it, but now…

Now she was sitting here at the park's food court, wondering, sulking, waiting. For what, she didn't want to know. Perhaps a chance to get the answers she couldn't find. Although she agreed to Zach to stop with the hunting ways, she still wore the ring on her finger, and she couldn't simply will away all the scars on her hands.

Looking at them now, Jenny could feel each one itch in a way that was almost sadistic. She hadn't used one of the Shadow Men's runes in a long time. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she did-probably when she was playing with Julian. She did, however, use a few Egyptian runes when she could; secretively, of course, for small things. Like a light in the dark, traveling-Well that was always risky.

It's not like it mattered anyway. What was she supposed to do with Dark Magic when her world was so perfect? She had Tom Locke to herself, great friends, good family, food on the table, a roof over her head-

And yet,…

Jenny didn't think much on it when she put her finger on the side of the water bottle and mumbled, "Isa." She hadn't cut herself, didn't use blood to activate the rune. It was merely out of boredom, but it _worked_. The water slowly turned cloudy as it went from a liquid to a solid, freezing from the inside out. Jenny sat up with a gasp, completely shocked as the plastic crinkled and the condensation quickly formed on the outside.

Before she could even spare a glance around her, the hand snatched the bottle in a flash and threw it in the nearest trash can. Zach came back , with his lengthy legs striding in heated anger, dirty blonde hair hanging in his face just slightly. His voice was hushed but strict when he came to her table. "Are you _insane_ -"

"It worked," she interrupted. "I didn't cut myself, but it worked-"

"Are you _trying_ to cause trouble? What if someone saw you?"

"I-I didn't know-Look, I didn't even-"

"Don't, Jenny," he stopped her before she could even began. "Not here. We're not supposed to be doing that kind of stuff anymore. You said-"

"Oh, stop it." Jenny jumped to her feet, stopping to fix her skirt before she walked around the table to face him directly. "You know we can't just shut this stuff out. Grandfather would-"

Zach had to physically place his hand over her mouth, but before Jenny could slap it away, or bite down, he turned her head to the side where the familiar group was running up. She saw Summer, the small blonde practically sprinting her way over like an excited child, with Dee close behind. Audrey was with Michael who was tagging along like a lost copper-spaniel, while in the back of the group was Tom. Seeing him smile and wave from a distance made Jenny feel like a line was drawn somewhere, forcing her to step onto the other side, to leave this one behind.

"You can't tell, Jenny," Zach said carefully, his voice low. "They won't understand. _No one_ does."

Zach went ahead of her, hands in his pockets, silently nodding to the greetings he received from their friends. Jenny knew as soon as she saw the smiles-so innocent-that her cousin was right. They wouldn't understand. If she told them, that smile wouldn't be there. They wouldn't see it as some kind of good magic, of something wonderful. They'd see it for what it is-Dark Magic-and the things they would say….

But she could convince them. She could show them, try and explain that this was the life she was raised on-It was in her blood. If they just _listened_ to her-

Then she met eyes with Tom.

There was _no way_ she could tell them.

Jenny pretended to be caught off guard when Summer came barreling upon her, small arms wrapped tight around her waist in a fierce hug, much like a small child would do. It was like being woken up by the bright sunlight through the blinds, a warm lovely wake up call. Especially when the blonde started ranting with such delight.

"Oh, I can't wait! Today is going to be so much fun! Can we go on that one first? No I really, really want to go on the Ferris wheel-But they have churros! Can I have one Jenny? Oh please? What if we split a caramel apple instead?"

Dee came up and slung one of her dark, muscled arms around the smaller blonde. "Slow down there, Sun Bunny. We have all day. I'm sure we have time to fit a candy apple in there somewhere."

"But I like the caramel ones better!"

Jenny was hesitating. She knew she shouldn't be, but she still felt it on her tongue-the anticipation-the truth-But it was the look on her cousin's face, so solemn, so strict behind those gray eyes, that finally brought Jenny back. With a deep breath she patted the smaller blonde shoulder and said, "Why not both?"

"Yeah! I want one of everything!"

Audrey was fixing her hair when she said, "Yeah, yeah, you can eat sweets until your teeth rot out later. What ride are we going on first?"

Beside her, Michael was looking at the nearest roller coaster with a look much similar to a dog with its tail between its legs. "Um, how about we play some arcade games first?"

"Oh, that sounds fun!"

"No way," Dee argued. "I want to go on the fastest, tallest ride they have here!"

Jenny was going to say something, suggest maybe a ride then some games, but that was until Tom came up to her. Her thoughts always died when he came up to her like this, with such warmth in his eyes, and that famous Tom Locke smile. Her kissed her once, gently, before putting his arms around her waist and saying so lightly, "Hey, Thorny."

Jenny couldn't even say hi back. She kissed him again. And again. She felt so rooted when she kissed him, coming back down to Earth after her mind had drifted off to the other nine realms-

But Tom pried her off, laughing. "Easy there, tiger," he said. "Save that for later."

Oh, right. Tom wasn't much for heavy PDA. He did show her off, yes; he wasn't afraid to hide her from others, but he was a gentlemen about it. Jenny always admired that about him, but today it just seemed to strike a wrong chord in her-Saying that she didn't want him to pull away, she didn't care about manners.

But of course, she stifled that down when he threw his arm around her. "How was the drive? We hit a bunch of traffic."

Jenny hid her flinch pretty well. Well traveling by an ancient Egyptian light trap was definitely faster than any freeway. "Fine. It was fine."

Something changed in his eyes, something small but noticeable. "What's wrong? You look a little upset."

"What? No, I'm fine, really. I just…."

So easily, Tom cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze-such a gentle, comforting gaze. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Jenny actually paused, feeling the words on her tongue-how badly she wanted to tell him-to tell _someone_ -but the words sank deep within her chest, carving out such a hollow feeling from the fact that she _couldn't_ tell him everything. She couldn't tell him anything at all.

Thankfully, Michael interrupted with a shout, "I-I can't go on that one!"

"Oh, you're such a wuss!" Dee prodded. "C'mon, Michael, live a little!"

"I'll just hold your girls bags while your on it. That way no one steals them or anything."

"I think we have better chances in the lockers."

Tom, with Jenny under his arm, paraded through the argument, turning and leading their group into the heart of the park. "Come on guys. Let's have some fun!"

Jenny decided to stay quite for a bit after that, but even under the stern gaze of her cousin, she couldn't get the runes out of her head.

…_

It was supposed to be fun. Jenny _was_ having fun. But….something was nagging at her. Something about the park. Had her grandfather written something about a park in his journals? How badly Jenny wanted those journals back.

Oh, her grandfather….

And the rune! How had it worked without a blood indication? Not all Egyptian runes needed blood, but the Dark ones, the ones the Shadow Men used, always needed blood. _Always_.

It was the sound-so vicious-so abrupt-that made Jenny's gut jump. The first thing that came to her mind was the Amarok, barreling from the side, ready to snap its massive jaws upon whoever was closet. Jenny grabbed the closet person to her-Summer-and yanked the small blonde to the side.

But Summer only spurred in glee, pulling against Jenny's hands to point and scream, "Look, guys! Tigers!"

The cages sat just across the walkway with fences higher than some of the rides there. The seats sloped downward a bit with a rope barrier being the only thing separating the audience from the wide-bars of the cage. Everyone was piled to the left corner where there was a mother teaching her baby to roar. Half of her friends were already merging with the crowd, gazing at the bright orange felines. Tom and Zach were the ones to stay behind with Jenny. Her cousin was looking t her strangely, but it was Tom who asked, "You ok there, Thorny? Did they scare ya?"

His boyish grin settled some of the anxiety in Jenny's throat and she nodded. In turn, Zach headed down the sloped seats and Tom rubbed her arms from behind. "Ah, we'll just stay a bit off the side the. How about that? We won't get to close."

"I'm not afraid," Jenny said, but still Tom led her down the rows of seats, far off to the side of the crowd.

A part of her wanted to argue, that she was merely caught off guard. She knew about all the dangers in the world that most had nightmare about; a mere tiger didn't compare. And yet, she allowed Tom to lead her down and stand at a distance from everyone else. Jenny couldn't see the rest of their friends, and the angle on the tigers was very poor. The mother was protecting her young anyway, snarling and throwing her massive claws through the bars of the cage. The size of her paw alone was the size of someone's head, resulting in five guards standing at the very front of the rope line, making sure no one crossed.

The tiger roared and everyone cheered. How _boring_.

They thought a tiger was amazing. They think wild animals are scary. They should see a Leviathan. Or any other demon for that matter. But if that happened someone would probably put it in a cage and give it an admission price, tricking everyone into thinking it was nothing more than a harmless water snake-

Jenny had to look away. She was glad she wasn't in the crowd anymore because she didn't feel apart of it. Maybe she wanted to, to be amazed by something so strong and wild, but after spending her entire life learning the truth of things, it was just impossible. Even Tom's warm hands on her shoulders didn't comfort her at that realization.

But Jenny looked up, to the separate cage on the right, and saw another tiger. This one was a white Bengal tiger, a striking contrast to its faux green environment. Surprisingly, it was just standing there, completely parallel to her, facing her directly, staring right at her-And it's _eyes_. They were blue-so blue that they only reminded Jenny of one thing-of the only being in existence that could ever have that color of eyes.

Jenny stepped closer to the cage, feeling Tom's hands fall from her as she approached the rope string. As if copying her, the tiger drew closer, its shoulder blades shifting in its back magnificently as it came down its little hill, right up to the bars. It moved so gracefully, not even breaking its eye-contact with her by a single blink. Jenny was watching it very carefully, at those sapphire eyes looking right at her, and waited for it to snarl at her, to swipe at her-anything. Instead, the noise it made was much softer, like a low growl, but gentler-

When Jenny realized it was purring, she almost gasped.

She felt the reaction in her face, the widening of her eyes, and she swore the tiger's eyes dilated in return. It then rubbed its face against the bars, like a kitten would to its owner's legs, begging for attention. Jenny could only smile at its docile behavior. The tiger slowly turned after that, as if to walk away, but then lowered itself down and laid against the bars. Bunches of its fur and skin hung through the bars, in Jenny's reach. It looked over its shoulder at her with eyes and blue as ice, like it was asking her to touch him.

To try and touch that tiger was a dumb idea-a _really_ dumb idea. Jenny knew. But the more she thought about it, the more she stared into its eyes, a strange feeling seeped into her blood. A familiar light feeling, that surfaced memories she spent four years trying to force away, and habits too hard to kick, and with it came such delight-

Jenny reached out her hand.

If she touched it, would it claw her? Would it bite her-Was it even real-Would it disappear-Would it stay-Was it him-She had to know-

"Whoa!"

The hands smacked hers down in an instant, turning her away from the mystical beast and to Tom's concerned brown eyes. The tiger was on its feet in the next second, teeth bared and snarling, and it hooked an arm through the cage, swiping at Tom.

Then the guards came running over, pushing the two of them back as someone went to fetch one of the training poles. Yet, by the time they returned, the tiger had ran off into its thrush of bushes. Jenny was still staring after it, feeling the europhia draining from her blood like a fascinating high-

Then Tom was scolding in her face. "What were you _doing_?"

Zach was there in a heart beat, followed by her train of her friends. "I-I was-I wasn't going to touch it."

"You were leaning over the rope, Jenny. It could've hurt you!" It was Tom's words, but her cousin's punishing gaze that got to her and she had to turn away.

"Ok, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare everyone. I'm fine…"

Her friends accepted that easily, and after a bit more coaxing, the hard, worried lines in Tom's face relaxed and he pulled her into a hug. Jenny allowed him to. She had to. She couldn't exactly explain that if the tiger did swipe at her-That even if it had somehow escaped she would've been able to fight it without batting an eye. Instead she buried her face in Tom's shoulder, as if frightened by the whole incident, and apologized again.

"It's alright. Let's just…go on to something else. Ok? What's next?"

"I'm choosing the ride this time," Audrey snapped. "You've all had your turn and now it's mine."

With that, they followed the redhead across the park, to the section of rides near the back where the arcade and water-themed section laid just around the corner. It wasn't until after they went in circles a few times and looked at all of their options in the entire park that Audrey finally chose one.

"That one."

"Seriously?"

"That's not a ride, Audrey. It's a fun house."

Tom was right. It was called ' _The Maze of Darkness'_ with nothing but a pure black exterior and absolutely no lights inside. They had gone on it before, whenever the last time they had come to this park was. It was literally a maze, with dead ends and confusing turns, but it was made out of slabs of black painted plywood. Once inside, you can't see a damn thing and you have to grope around blindly until you stumble upon the exit or run face-first into a wall.

"Yeah, a _fun_ house," Audrey stressed. "Let's see who can get out the fastest. And the loser buys lunch!"

Summer actually took a step away from the house. "I don't know…"

"It's my turn and I choose this one!"

"Ok, ok. Who wants to give it a try?"

Dee was the one to argue with a roll of her eyes. "Of course, like Daddy's Little Girl isn't used to getting everything she wants-"

"Girls."

"Bite me, Deidre. I bet I can get out faster than you."

"You wish!"

The fighting only stopped with Michael put himself between the girls, soothing the redhead with a forced hug. Dee then worked on convincing Summer that she'd be ok so long as she stayed with her.

But Tom stepped in front of Jenny, blocking her from the ride. "I don't know guys. Jenny doesn't really like small, dark places."

Jenny couldn't help but picture a closet and that color blue flashed before her eyes. It made her shiver, but God that feeling wasn't even close to fear.

As a result, she jumped away from Tom, almost shoving him away from her. "I am _not_."

"I thought you were claustrophobic, Jenny?" Michael asked.

"No, I'm not. I'm perfectly fine with small, dark places."

Tom didn't seem to understand. He was looking at her strangely. "But then…I mean, last year…"

He didn't need to finish. Jenny remembered. She had forgotten, honestly, about that night a year ago. They were at a party, playing spin the bottle on the living room floor. Jenny had lost to Tom-Well "lost" by Tom purposely stopping the bottle on her-but the dare was to spend seven minutes in the closet.

Jenny had freaked.

She hadn't meant to, but when Tom tried to lead her inside it, with full intent on kissing her like all the times he had before-All Jenny could imagine was the first boy she kissed, inside a closet of nothing but shadows-and she just _couldn't_.

They didn't really talk about it much after that. She thought that memory had died between them. Now they had all assumed she was afraid of the dark.

In truth, it wasn't so much the dark, but what was inside it.

"Oh, come on!" Audrey argued. "Roller coasters will mess up my hair. At least on this we can all go _together_."

"That's true."

Michael didn't look too happy about it, but when Audrey fixed her hair and grabbed his arm, he gave no retort. Summer immediately clung to Dee saying, "Just don't leave me. I hate the dark."

Jenny was still trying to sort out the mess inside her head when she realized Tom was staring at her. "Do you want to go?" He asked carefully. "We can stay out here, it's fine. I'll win you something at the arcade-"

"No, no." Jenny didn't want to be the spoiler of all the fun. She wasn't _afraid_ of the dark. A simple fun house would be fine. To reassure them, she grabbed Tom's hand securely and smiled. "Just stay with me. Ok?"

Tom didn't miss a beat. He never did. "I _promise_."

Jenny finally looked to Zach, but he wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the funhouse…a little oddly. Then Summer was ripping everyone their share of tickets, and they went inside. The space was so small that it was forced single-file line. Dee was at the front, of course, with Summer in hand. Then Audrey and Michael, Jenny, Tom, then Zach. As soon as they passed the black tarp blocking the entrance, absolutely nothing could be seen.

Summer squealed. Dee laughed. They all had to brace themselves with one hand on the wall in order to guide themselves along. It was so cramped that it was unbearably hot, but you couldn't even see the person in front of you. It was a lot of shuffling, squealing, bumping and shoving around in the dark. A part of Jenny's mind reeled at the sensation, but she only held onto Tom's hand tighter, who secured her quickly with his other hand between her shoulder blades.

There were turns and there steps, making everyone shuffle and talk and joke. Jenny was following Michael blindly with a close hand to his back, but as they ventured in and tumbled around in the dark, soon she was back to holding the wall as her support. It was hard to keep up, after a while. The arguing about who was going to win was starting to stretch farther and farther into the darkness-They were falling behind.

There was a step Jenny missed, unable to see it in the dark, and she tripped a bit forward losing Tom's hand. Jenny groped back blindly, trying to find his hand. She even stopped and waited a moment for Tom to catch up, to bump into her or even trip on the step himself. When she found nothing, she physically turned around-right into the wall. She grabbed her chin in pain as she stepped back, and felt the door with her other hand-But that was impossible. She just came from that way. She couldn't even hear her friends anymore.

Then came the light.

It was very small, very soft, but Jenny still caught it. Well, it was impossible not to see a ray of light when everything around you is pitch black. It came from behind her, casting a small beam. It outlined the edge of a corner, and Jenny's first thought was that she was near the exit. When she neared the light, however, she started to see how the light was moving, how it swirled and expanded. From the around the corner, she could see more of the light dancing off the opposing walls, revealing a very bright, very different hallway.

Jenny turned on it and saw herself.

It actually made her jump to suddenly see another person-but the fear died when she realized it was just her reflection. But that wasn't right. There weren't any mirrors in this maze. At least, there weren't last time. It had been a few years, they could've added a few more elements to confuse the hell out of everyone.

So Jenny turned in hopes of going back the way she came, when she saw herself again. The light got a bit brighter and revealed another mirror. And another. The whole hall was filled with the glass, surrounding her in a circle of her own reflection. It was discombobulating, seeing herself so many times, seeing multiples of the walls and corners and lights-She couldn't tell what was real and what was a reflection anymore. It was worse than the house of mirrors because of the dark, of the stuffy heat. She did a few circles, running her hands across the glass waiting to find the break in reality.

Only, she didn't find it. All the mirrors were connected, trapping her in a small circle of glass. She didn't believe it at first, until she did it again, pressing harder against the glass as if to find a swinging door of some kind. When she didn't find any, confirmed that there was no longer a way out, she didn't panic.

She looked around her. She couldn't tell where the light was coming from. The ceiling and floor were still solid squares of black. She could only see into the mirrors, into the shadows that blended into the glass like it was coming _from_ the mirrors themselves.

She thought about calling out for one of her friends, in hopes of them finding her, but then she turned and saw him.

He was just an outline, a figure in the shadows. He was in her reflection, standing right behind her, so she spun only to see her own shocked expression, green eyes wider than she'd ever seen them. She looked back, and the figure was gone.

The breath she let out was a mix between relief and disappointment. She really needed to calm down. She was thinking too much. She was just tired. Maybe she needed to sit down and eat some food and maybe then she'd stop seeing things-

Then the chuckle echoed around her, as light as a breeze, and as elemental as water over rocks.

Jenny spun immediately and she found him again. His image was fuzzy, covered in shadows. Half of his face was exposed in the light, revealing the edge of a smile, and an eye as blue as a sapphire. At first, Jenny could only stare, waiting for the image to simply disappear as it had done before. She turned around again, and once more there was no one behind her. When she looked back to her reflection, expecting it to be gone again, not only was he still there, he was clearer to see.

He was taller than her, his figure towering over her from behind. She could only see his head and shoulders and one of his arms since the rest she was blocking. The shadows were dancing across him like some kind of black fog, revealing just a bit of skin on his shoulder. Jenny was trying so hard to map him out, to give his face details, to pull away the shadows that cloaked him like a mask. She even waited for him to move or speak, and yet he just stood there, staring at her through the mirror before her.

It couldn't be anyone else. Even if it was fake, Jenny couldn't imagine anything but him trapping her in a shadow-filled enclosure. She tried to think of something, a rune-a seal-something to try and prove it, but her throat was tight-unable to form words even if her mind was fully functional at the moment.

She should leave. She really should because if this was really him-Really a Shadow Man playing tricks on her then she really needed to get out. This could be a trap-a game-She had to-

Then he touched her.

Jenny watched in still shock as the man behind her lifted his hand very slowly and put it on her shoulder. It was like watching some weird movie, but the frightening thing was, Jenny _felt_ his touch. She whipped around, too quickly for comfort and yet there was nothing but the mirrors, reflecting her shock back to her. She turned back to the only mirror he was in, where his hand remained gently on her shoulder. He was looking at her through the reflection, speaking without words. His touch was cold, a soft graze against her skin that sat there with invisible weight. Jenny looked at her own shoulder, seeing no kind of hand there, but still the touch lingered.

She met the man's eyes, questioning everything in silence. He said nothing, nor did anymore of him become clearer. He remained there, a figure of shadows, touching her, watching her. His hand then began to move down her arm, the very tips of his fingers running across her skin, surfacing goose-bumps inch by inch. It tickled in the most delicious way, awakening that feeling Jenny got back at the tiger cage-that dangerous high-

The white tiger. With the same eyes-

Was it him? Was he here? Was she going crazy?

But she felt his fingers, how smooth they ran across her skin, so gently. And when he moved Jenny's hair out of the way in her reflection, she felt something like a gust of wind physically move her hair, exposing her neck. Before she could react, he bent his head and kissed the back of her shoulder.

Jenny shuddered **hard**.

She felt it. She felt everything. His gentle caresses, the sweet press of his lips against her skin, the heat of his body behind her. It couldn't be real and yet it felt so _good,_ especially when his lips traveled up her skin, to the side of her neck, giving kisses softer than the touch of a butterfly's wing. Jenny couldn't help it. She craned her neck to the side, giving the man in the reflection more room. His hand on her arm tightened and he pulled her back, pressing Jenny flush against a body that wasn't there-firm and-and-

-Dangerous. This was dangerous. He was the definition of danger. She was enjoying this. Pure evil was kissing her neck and she _liked_ it. This unbelievable fantasy-Just like from her dreams-

Oh, but how risky it would be, if this was real-If they were really trapped like this-Back in a room of shadows. If they were back in that closet, as they were now, older, smarter, stuck together-forever with-

" _Julian_."

She said it more to herself than actually calling for him because she just had to know whether this was real, or if she had fallen and hit her head. After four years of everything being bottled up and to feel something this real, she just _needed_ to know.

She wasn't too sure what she was expecting, watching the man in the mirror as he continued to place such sweet kisses against her neck. Yet, the second she said his name, his head shot up and Jenny saw him as clear as day-Glorious white hair, bright inhumanly blue eyes, and a smirk as vile as the Devil's-

The scream ripped through the whole fun house and Jenny jumped out of her skin. She spun on her heels, actually believing to find the Shadow Man behind her. Instead she was blinded by light to the point of bringing tears, and after a minute her eyes adjusted to reveal the open pieces of black plywood and the very bright spot of grass behind it.

The exit.

Behind her was nothing more than a piece of plywood, although this one was not painted black. It was a pale contrast to the rest of the maze, like a flame in the dark.

Jenny didn't realize she was panting until she had to cough to get her breath back. The adrenaline was still in her blood, that wonderful high spurring fog in her common sense, but Jenny forced her weak legs to stumble forward, into the square of light. She landed outside a bit awkwardly, and the heat from the fun house was ripped away, replaced by cold refreshing air.

Someone stumbled out after her, a couple actually. The girl was laughing and the boy was scowling, saying. "Why'd you have to scream like that? You scared the crap out of me!"

It was while watching the couple walk away that Jenny found her friends just in the distance. Summer saw her first, saying, "There's Jenny!" But Tom was already running up to her, asking her if she was ok, she had pulled away from him-lost him, and he was just so worried-

"I'm fine," Jenny said a bit too quickly. She suddenly felt a bit anxious about his concern, the comfort he was trying to show her. She couldn't accept it so easily, not when the skin of her neck was tingling with delight.

"Ladies, please," Michael was soothing as Dee and Audrey were practically at each other's throat about who had come out first. Summer was upset about their arguing, and Tom was still trying to see if Jenny was ok, but that was when Jenny noticed it.

"Where's Zach?"

There was a pause as everyone looked and realized one was missing from their group.

"He must still be in there."

"Oh well, looks like he's buying us lunch."

"Cause you're a dirty cheater."

"Don't be snobby just because you lost."

"Girls, please."

The high was gone. She turned back to the Maze of Darkness, looked around anxiously in hopes of finding her cousin stumbling about the park looking for them. When she saw no sign of him, she began staring at the black hole of an exit, waiting desperately for her cousin to come out. The girls still argued. Summer was talking about a stuffed animal she saw on a game that she wanted to win. Tom was still talking to her, but Jenny refused to take her eyes off of the exit.

If he was still in there-If Zach was lost-

Did he…see something, too?

"How long was I in there for?" She asked, her voice tight.

Tom shrugged. "A few minutes. Why?"

"He's taking too long."

"He's probably hitting like every dead end in there."

"I'm going back in-"

Tom cut her off by grabbing her arm, stopping her the second she started walking. "Whoa, relax. I'm sure he's fine. Look, he'll be out any second now. Let's just give him a few more minutes. Ok? Everything's fine."

Usually that calm tone would put Jenny at ease, but not today. Not after what she just saw.

Regardless, she waited with him, eyes glued on that exit. A minute passed. Then another. They waited in agonizingly slow minutes and watched as person after person came out of that exit-all people that had gone in after them-none of them being her cousin.

With each minute, the girls arguing died down, Summer's excitement settled, and the slight bit of concern started to grow in the air.

"Maybe he really is lost in there," Summer said in a bit of a whine.

Jenny's corner only heightened, forming into actual fear. "I don't like this. Something's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong. Maybe we missed him."

"Maybe he's in the bathroom."

"Michael, will you go check?"

But when Michael turned to leave, Jenny snapped, "No, we didn't! He was behind me. If he didn't get out before me then-" Two more people stumbled out of the maze, disoriented and laughing. "Look! Those people were way behind us in line. He's still _in_ there."

Once again Jenny moved forward to go back inside, and again Tom stopped her. "Jenny, relax-"

"I can't. I'm sorry, I can't. I have to find him."

"He's fine. Nothing can happen to him in there."

But Jenny was pulling out of his grip, arguing with him because things _could_ happen to him-anyone. Anywhere. Any time. No one knew. No one understood-

"Just let me look for him."

"I don't want you going back in there."

"I need to find him!"

"Jenny-"

"You guys don't understand, he needs to get out!"

"Ok!" Tom's voice hardened, just a bit, in order to catch her spiraling attention. "We'll call him, ok? If he isn't using his phone for a light, he'll answer us and tell us where he is. If he doesn't answer, then we'll go back in. Ok?"

"That's a good idea."

"Yeah, we don't have many tickets left."

Oh Jenny hated it, but they were right. She was panicking over nothing. At least, she hoped so.

So she tried to act normal. Tried to calm down and call her cousin like he couldn't possibly be fighting a Shadow Demon in a park fun house. Even so, with every ring the possibility got higher and more realistic and dear God why wasn't he answering-

Then came the click of the receiver and relief filled Jenny. "Zach! Zach, where are you? We-We're waiting outside the maze. Are you still inside?"

Nothing.

"Zach?"

She couldn't exactly say she _heard_ the noise. It was very soft at first, very distant, like the reception was absolutely terrible. Rather, Jenny felt the noise as it came through the line. It wasn't English. It wasn't even words. It was just a hiss-very supple, very low, but like static it began to grow louder and louder until it crackled and damaged the speaker in the phone, striking pain in Jenny's ears, and spiking her fear to its climax.

She dropped the phone and ran.

"Jenny!"

She ran right passed the line, right through the ticket taker's weak attempt at stopping her, and jumped into the darkness. She went searching in a frantic, not even remembering the way she had just taken. She went bounding off the walls, running into corners, and flying out of dead-ends. She was shouting for him, unable to see as she searched relentlessly in the darkness. Her fear got worse when she didn't run into anyone at all-None of the others that had gone into the maze before she jumped in.

She found herself in a spacious part where there stood no walls and just the slightest bit of light, showing her the nothing around her. But that was the thing-You couldn't see them here on Earth, but they were there-tricking you, driving you insane-Jenny knew; she had been trained and yet here she was, running back and forth in the darkness like a mad woman-

No, she wasn't mad. She wasn't even a normal woman. She was a Shadow Man Hunter.

For the first time in years, Jenny flicked open her ring and cut her finger, not even hissing at the pain. She ripped off her dress jacket and bundled it up around her hand, then with her bloody finger she drew the symbol in the dark, not having to see to know what it looked like. She activated it before she even finished drawing it, "Kenaz."

There was a spark in the dark, then the flame arose, burning at the end of her jacket. She adjusted the flaming cloth carefully so that as the jacket caught fire, it became more like a torch, avoiding burning her hand. She used the light as her guide then, striding more confidentially as she searched the maze relentlessly. If she ran into anyone else, if she got caught like this, they'd probably evict her from the park. They'd call her crazy.

Jenny could care less, because the more she searched the dark halls, the more anxious she got for the safety of her cousin. And yet, the more she searched, the less cramped the walls seemed to be. In fact, there were a lot more turns and dead-ends than she remembered. But she had been running around, she had to be repeating herself-

Oh but she knew better than that.

In fact, the proof went scampering behind her, as fast as a blur, just catching the edge of her vision. Jenny turned after the shadow, trying to reveal it in the light, but there was nothing. She heard it, whatever it was, running through the maze. It was small, with tiny feet that patted against the ground in soft slaps of bare skin. Jenny didn't know what it was, but it couldn't be human. Little kids weren't even allowed on this attraction.

Her senses were going hey-wire. Her instincts were thriving. Nothing was right. This wasn't right.

She followed after the figure, only to feel something brush her legs behind her. She screamed when she jumped, seeing the tiny body go running around a different corner. But Jenny hesitated following it with this-She couldn't, but she did. Then she ran after it, aiming the burning jacket lower as to hopefully find the little bastard-

Then she tripped, just like before. Only this time she collided with something on the ground. When she fell, she lost her burning jacket, landing just beside her. She barely caught herself preventing her face from hitting the ground, but she didn't feel hard plywood under her legs. It was thicker, softer, and cold. _Very_ cold.

Jenny sat up in a flash, snatching for her source of light. However, the cloth was suddenly soaked in something warm-a liquid that had been resting in a puddle on the ground. Lifting the light up, Jenny saw the red footprints leading down the plywood- _bloody_ footprints. She was in a puddle of blood.

The panic made her turn quickly, shining the light over the object under her feet, and she screamed.

"Zach! No-God no-Zach! _Zach!_ "

…-

No one spoke. The five of them sat there in the hospital waiting room in utter silence. Audrey couldn't lift her face from her hands, with Michael beside her. Dee was consoling Summer. Tom was posted in a chair, eyes fixed on Jenny as she paced the room. She couldn't sit down. Not when her mind was racing a mile a minute-Fear eating at her heart the longer she waited, being forced to sit here and do _nothing_ while her cousin was-

She couldn't get the image out of her head; of her cousin lying there in the dark, face still and pliant, with the blood pooling around his head.

Tom had found her in there almost immediately, hearing her scream. Dee had 911 on the phone by the time they carried him outside and now here they were, sitting in the hospital, waiting to hear from anyone if he was ok-if he was dying-how he even got like this-

Someone grabbed her hand, stilling her for a moment, and the old scar on her palm ached in a terrible way. She was going to pull away, until Tom lifted her hand, singling out the bloody finger. He didn't say anything as he put the bandage around it, didn't even look at her. Jenny allowed him to. Honestly, she never did cover those cuts on her fingers because really there was no point. Her grandfather always said there was no shame in hiding battle wounds, and a Shadow Man wasn't going to give you the time to rip off your bandages before attacking you.

Those solemn brown eyes finally met hers when he was done, such a comforting netting for Jenny to catch herself in. It was like a gentle lull, easing away the worry away bit by bit, until she could feel herself again. He even lifted his hand, smiling at her as he began to caress her face, and that's where the fear came back. It whipped at her mind in a vicious fit of shadows, with an impossible blue hue behind them, and Jenny inevitably jerked away.

"Mrs. Thorton?"

Jenny almost fell apart when she saw the doctor step from the hall. He was a tall man with dark hair, but he didn't look too happy. She was before him in an instant, asking, "Is he ok? Is he-"

"He's stable," the doctor confirmed. "For now. We were able to control the bleeding. There was a hemorrhage in his brain that we just caught in time. But….he took a lot of damage."

Summer gasped. Audrey released a tiny whimper. One pair of hands came over Jenny's shoulders-Tom's-the others grasped her left hand securely. It must've been Dee.

"He's unconscious," the doctor continued, "and I'm going to be honest with you, Ms. Thorton; we don't know if he will wake up."

Tom was able to speak where Jenny couldn't. "What happened to him?"

"He took a serious hit to the head. If you found him on the ground, we can only assume he must've fell and hit it on something."

Jenny felt her throat cinch up. "C-Can I see him?"

"Yes. Usually only two people are allowed back here at a time, but I'll let four of you go in right now."

Dee immediately pulled back, slinging her arm around Summer in a silent agreement to stay behind. The rest of them followed Jenny inside, where the doctor led them to the room. When Jenny saw Zach there, lying unconscious in the hospital bed, something churned in her stomach. Something _dark_.

There was some kind of noise, very weak and pathetic, then Audrey was running out of the room. Everyone understood without an explanation. It had been her who wanted to go inside the Maze in the first place. Michael gave Tom a worried look, who nodded at him, and Michael went after her.

Jenny could only stand there for a moment, unable to see the image before her and call it real. There was a gentle touch on her arm, from Tom, and Jenny felt her feet move. She went to his side, numbly found his hand and gripped it tightly. But he was _cold_ , almost lifeless. And the expression on his sleeping face, it wasn't like her cousin at all. Like a hollow shell that looked like her cousin; a cold, empty vessel here only to torture her with the fear of losing him.

Jenny didn't realize she was zoning out until the strange body approached on the other side of the bed. The nurse only gave her a weary smile, saying, "I'm just checking his vitals."

Tom's touch was warm, so unlike the body of her cousin in her hands. "Jenny," he called gently, but he couldn't get her to turn her gaze away from him. "Jenny…what about your Aunt and Uncle? Have his parents been called?"

He asked that to the nurse, but Jenny didn't catch her answer. She couldn't stop staring at her cousin, picturing his tense expression, how concentrated he looked when he drew, how he squared up against her in practice. Oh God, is this what she looked like four years ago-

Just like that, the world felt like it dropped away from Jenny.

Tom was saying something to her, but all the air had vanished form her lungs. The air was gone, lights too bright. She was so dizzy. She was so _stupid_.

Tom grabbed her once more, but suddenly Jenny jumped away. She released the frozen hand of her cousin and backed away from the bed quickly-too quickly. Both Tom and the nurse were staring at her strangely. But Jenny didn't care about their concern because the fear was eating at her heart-invading her mind in a split second.

"I have to go…"

"What?"

Jenny didn't explain. She ran out of the room.

….

Jenny burst through the door to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her in a fit of too many emotions to handle.

" _ **Julian!**_ "

She screamed it until her lungs ached, until it left her breathless. She wasn't expecting an answer-No, it didn't work like that. He needed permission to come here, and she couldn't give him that. _Ever_.

But if she was right-If this fear was real, then he had Zach. And that made her anger stronger than the fear.

So she went right for her closet. She moved aside the old shoes and school projects to the loose wooden floor-board. It was easy to remove, where hidden underneath was a fairly large box. Jenny ripped it out and dumped the box out on her floor without hesitation. Just like that, after four years, Jenny poured the contents of her life onto her bedroom floor.

Charmed knives, sulfuric powder, enchanted ropes, protective charms and figurines-All the things Jenny had either salvaged from the ruins of the basement or recollected over the years. She changed into a good pair of pants and t-shirt, then began on filling her pockets with as many supplies as necessary. She fixed herself a good belt and was able to fit the knives in their loops and attach one of the bags of power by its drawstring to it as well. Then she filled her pockets with the necessities. With her ring secured on her finger, she added a lighter after making sure it was working, and a small canteen of water.

Her plan wasn't solid. She wasn't going _there_ , and he wasn't coming here. But she was going to find him, one way or another. There was no safe way to try and communicate with a demon, but Jenny would be damned if she wasn't going to try.

Jenny knew there was some a ritual that could draw the Shadow Men out, almost like bait in a sense; it was how her grandfather had trapped all of them all those years ago. But he had never showed them how it worked. So for now she was going to have to improvise.

Once she was ready, Jenny tied her hair back with a hair tie and shut her closet door. She didn't even need to think about it. She pulled out one of the knives from her belt and began to carve.

Each one of the Dark Runes, in two equal circles around the doorframe. She carved each one with a determined delicacy, and once she finished she cut her finger without flinching. She stained each one with her blood, completely ignoring the fact that her parents could walk in any minute and catch her-

Her parents.

Her friends. Her family. _Tom_.

If she messed up-If she lost to the Shadow Men, she'd never see them again.

But Jenny knew she wasn't going to lose. She was going to win. She was going to bring Zach home.

Besides if that vision meant anything, then Jenny knew who she was dealing with. And she knew exactly how that Shadow Man worked. But if it wasn't Julian that was behind all of this-No, don't think like that. It _had_ to be.

If Julian was even strong enough to do it. The fire could've damaged him, but he had four years to recover. Four years to plan this out. Four years without even a single hint that he was still alive.

But Jenny wasn't stupid. She wasn't about to open a portal between dimensions and invite the demon into her bedroom. Once she finished with the Dark Runes, Jenny began to carve the Egyptian ones, in a square around the others. She even marked one in her blood on the carpet. That way the farthest anything from that world could come was the doorway.

She activated the portal by saying each of the runes aloud, ending with _Uruz_ , the rune for piercing the veil between the worlds. The red from her blood began to glow a bright crimson and before she knew it, the carvings began to spin. Like clockwork going hey-wire they began to spin faster and faster, sparking power from the air, cracking like electricity. Jenny had to turn away from it, covering her eyes from the brightness of it-the commotion of it all.

But Jenny wasn't scared. She should be-Purposely opening a portal to the place her grandfather had wished she never had to go to-the place that humans never returned from. But she couldn't be afraid. Her grandfather had told her about this- _Trained_ her for several years. For this. Jenny wasn't stupid. She was prepared. She was strong.

And she was going after the Shadow Man who took Zach with everything she had.

When the circles finally stopped spinning and the chaos settled, Jenny didn't wait. She ripped open the door, revealing not her closet, but pure overpowering shadows. It immediately felt like the box all those years ago; the swirling never-ending black mist came trailing into her room, curling around her feet like hands, She couldn't see anything passed it, but she knew the depth was great. It led to a whole different realm-One that her cousin was lost in, drifting somewhere.

That thought spurred Jenny to call out. "If you think you can just take him from me, you got another thing coming." Her only answer was a chilling breeze.

It was unnerving to stare into nothing but blackness for endless seconds, when anything could jump out or appear. It strained her eyes. It tested her patience.

"Julian, you pig! Answer me!"

She waited once more. She didn't know what she was expecting to see-the figure from the maze, Julian himself-anything at all to take form from the shadows. The last thing she expected was to something to answer her from behind.

It came too quickly, the quietest hiss in the air. She realized it too late-the presence behind her, _massive_ , and strong. She didn't have time to turn around. It struck between her shoulder blades, knocking her right through the threshold, where she fell and never stopped.

….

The pain throbbed in her temples, the beginning of a very terrible migraine. It was all Jenny registered at first, coming to consciousness. She was laying down, on her side, her mind unable to connect the dots. She finally opened her eyes, but all she saw was black.

Jenny ignored the pain in her head and sat up fast-too fast. Her head felt congested, ready to explode-she knew this feeling. The déjà vu was so thick it choked her, threatening to make her sick.

But she wasn't in the closet. She was in the park.

But it _couldn't_ be the park. It was different, in the biggest sense of the word. The land was black, grass dying under her feet, things clearly falling apart. It had everything the park had just hours ago, in all the same places, but everything was… _faded_. The color was gone from everything, leaving just the faint reminder of what it used to, painting everything a sinister black and white, taking shape only from the grays. It looked like it had been abandoned for _centuries_ , untouched, unwanted.

And it was _cold_. The heat was gone, the color faded-

" _A land of nothing but shadows, like frozen in time; a faded cold wasteland."_

The way her grandfather had described this place couldn't be mistaken. Even without his journals, Jenny remembered those words as clear as day.

And now it was staring her in the face.

She scrambled to her feet. At least, she tried to. Her legs didn't seem to want to work and her head just hurt so bad. She had to cradle her head and steady herself on the ground with the other hand, but she got herself kneeling.

Calm down, she told herself. Think. You were just at home. Relax. Think. Where are you?

Well, she knew the answer to that question. But just coming to terms that she landed in the Shadow World was impossible to accept.

Yes it was. She heard him. She saw him- _felt_ him back in the maze-then she fell in. He _tricked_ her, she realized with a terrible spark of anger. He knew what she had planned on doing all along. Jenny didn't know how he had the means to have something push her in, but she was sure of it. She had no proof, but she didn't need any. She clung to that reasoning with all her might because the more she stared into the shadows that made up everything around her, the harder it was to convince herself she was dreaming.

As if on auto-pilot, Jenny ripped off the band-aid on her finger, wincing at the sharp rip from her skin. The wound was even the tiniest bit tender. So she was awake.

But then….

Jenny had to take a long, deep breath as she fully accepted her fate. She was in the Shadow World-the world that Shadow Men were created and thrived. She was in their territory-among their rules-and _rights_.

She flicked open her ring next, and quickly carved the symbol of protection back into her palm. Cutting through the old scars hurt worse than it ever did, or perhaps Jenny had merely forgotten how to overcome the pain after four yeas. Even so, she swallowed the pain as well as the tiny bit of familiar relief from carving the rune into her hand again after all this time.

But she couldn't let her guard down. Not here. She wasn't in a secure location with one Shadow Man. She had no idea what this place was-Amusement Park replica or not-and she had to accept the fact that any of the Shadow Men- _Any_ of them could attack her. At once. In different ways-

No, don't panic.

But _God_ it was so hard not to. After so long, after concealing away all the facts, all the tactics, the memories, to suddenly be face-to-face with the biggest challenge ever….

No, it was a game. Julian took Zach, then tricked her here. This was the game.

So Jenny swallowed her fear, and actually _looked_ at the world she had only imagined in her nightmares.

She could see the Ferris wheel in the distance to the left, and the sign for the water section and the arcade to the right. Now she had to think of where to go-Where to look for first. She needed to find a door, a good door, and some light, to set up an Egyptian portal. That way, if she really was as limited in power as she thought she was, then the Shadow Men would have no way to interfere with her going home. Right, that sounded good.

As bad as it was, Jenny felt a sliver of comfort settle in her chest. She was thinking like a hunter again. After all these years, she could feel the anxiety in the back of her mind, reminding her of all the games she used to play, the beasts she fought, how _exciting_ they were-

Jenny didn't get the chance to gasp because then it was behind her. Her instincts lit up like the first spark of a fire, telling her that she was no longer alone-that something was lingering behind her-Something deadly.

There was a growl, mutilated and defective, practically at the back of her neck, so Jenny froze. She held her breath, stopped moving, even stopped blinking. She posted herself there, kneeling on the ground of the Shadow World, alone, with the monster lingering behind her, with no idea of what it was, or how to kill it-

And the fear was gone in an instant.

There was a snap of jaws and Jenny felt it move. She dove forward, turning so she landed on her back as she did, and screamed, " _Ankh_!" She saw the spark of light hit the creature in the face for a split second before she hit the ground. But Jenny rolled on her shoulder, jumping back to her knees, finding the monster before it could recover.

There, off to the side, was a tiger. Yet, as it got back to its feet, Jenny saw its matted fur, the missing patches of skin and-Jesus, she could see the bones of its ribcage. The whole underbelly of the animal was carved out, trailing one of its organ along the ground. When it faced her, half of its face was mangled, torn skin hanging in threads, blood as black as death pouring from its face. It was literally rotting away before her eyes, showing bits of muscle and bone, falling apart as it started to stalk her. Jenny stared at the zombie tiger for a moment before she jumped to her feet.

It roared at her when she moved so quickly, and Jenny felt that spark of fear-No, it was the adrenaline. That light feeling rushing through her blood in an instant, a dangerous mix of fear and amusement. It was what Jenny was raised on-what she _knew_ , and that familiar feeling was what caused her to smile.

"Well," she said aloud to the beast a mere five feet anyway, "I hate to break it to you, but I didn't plan on dying today. And something as ugly as you isn't going to change that."

As if offended, the tiger pounced. Jenny shouted another rune, knocking the beast back, then she ran. She took off in a hard sprint to the left, passed the fun house, passed the moldy concession stand, and into the stretch of land that separated this section of the park from the animal section. The metal fence ran along her side, quickly forming into the entertainment cage, where the chain-link fences form a variety of tunnels, leading from the animals containments to the stage. There were just up ahead, Jenny could see it, but then the pain struck the back of her leg.

She screamed as she stumbled into the fence, but she whipped around in the same motion, swinging her leg in a swift kick. She nailed the tiger in the arm, only causing it to miss her amid its lunge and collide with the fence. She flicked out a knife from her belt in the next second and stabbed it in the back; but the tiger twisted, ripping the knife from her grip as she jumped away.

Her defenses saw that the fence was broken in multiple places, leaving some of the poles of the fence loose or snapped off completely. Jenny snatched one of them before the tiger came at her again, using it to physically smack the tiger away. It's pathetic mewl, like a frightened kitten, almost made Jenny laugh. She shouted another rune instead, making the tiger howl in pain. She used the chance to take off in another run.

She charged away from the animal cages. If this one had escaped, then God knows what else laid in those cages. So she ran for the entrance of the food court, with the Ferris Wheel in the distance as her guide, following the trail that was just a shadow lighter than the black ground. She just reached the first concession stand, heart racing, lungs burning, and she heard the attack before she saw it.

The tiger pounced from the side, coming from around the concession stand. It landed dead-center of Jenny's path, making her skid to a stop. It swiped for her leg, which jenny had to drop to the ground, catching herself on her hands, and was able to kick it in the face. She followed it fluidly with a jab to the side with the sharp end of her pole, seeing the disgusting chunk of rotting muscle tear off when she pulled it back out. Then she flipped up and ran back the other way.

She ran to the tunnels while she had the chance, no time to stop and evaluate what could be in the other cages. But she couldn't see anything in the shadows and the tiger was back behind her, snarling as it chased her right to the tunnel of metal. She had planned on locking herself inside, but as she approached it, she saw there was no door at the end so Jenny went inside, following the turns down the end. There were other cages, where the animals were supposed to be individually held before the show, that now sat as empty, eerie spaces. Jenny charged for the one at the end, the only one with a solid cage door still on its hinges.

Jenny threw herself inside, barely getting the door closed before the tiger was there. It completely pounced on the door, jerking Jenny back, causing her to scream. But she pounced back, throwing her weight into the door, getting it closed before the tiger could jump inside. Just as she locked it, the tiger's arm came swiping through the bars of the cage. Jenny just barely dodged the claws, stumbling away from the door with her pole-and her life. She was alive. She did it. She beat it.

The relief caused a smile on her face, looking at the mutated tiger as it hung on the door, snarling and swiping at her. She almost laughed at it, the cut on her leg didn't even hurt anymore. The beast was pressing its face against the metal, scraping off fat chunks of rotten skin, landing in disgusting clumps against the ground. Jenny was relieved the door was holding up, but then she realized that _she_ was the one inside, trapped, just like four years ago-

"Very sloppy, Jenny."

And just like that, the fear was back.

All the blood drained from Jenny immediately, relinquishing all heat in an instant.

It was like a splash of cold water to the face. No it was more than that. Like electricity tingling through her nerves, spiking up the back of her neck, to her mind-sending her straight back to four years ago-to the box of shadows, trapped with-

Jenny had to spin around, but she wasn't prepared. Just like the very first moment when she fell in the closet, there was no way for her to be prepared for this Shadow Man.

He stepped from the shadows, and there, a mere 5 feet from her was Julian. He was older, just above Jenny's age, still with his hair as white as snow, and impossible blue eyes. Just like in the maze, he was more crafted-Was it possible for him to be even more gorgeous? The one thing different, however, was that smile. It wasn't dangerous or cocky like it was four years ago.

It was worse.

"But I guess four years of hiding yourself will weaken old habits."

Jenny's mind stuttered to a glorious pause. It was him-Right there-His voice-His eyes-And yet her mind couldn't catch up. He wasn't a reflection this time, not a whisper from the shadows. Now she was standing before him, trapped in a tigers cage, her eyes wide, mouth agape. She was dreaming-She was being tricked-Like in the fun house, he was-

But he smiled and Jenny felt it, the haughtiness, the vileness that came from it, and he took a step toward her.

Immediately, she rose the pole she had, lifting it right under his chin, preventing him from coming any closer. But this cage was smaller than the closet, with hardly any elbow room. Julian was in arm's reach, only separated now by the four foot long pole. He was wearing a black leather vest, one that exposed such marvelous muscles that he didn't have four years ago, and black pants that hugged his hips just right-

Jenny was still staring. She couldn't even speak. She couldn't-it was him-but it wasn't-it couldn't be-he couldn't-

This was a trick. She was seeing things-If she was really in the Shadow World, with the other Shadow Men, then she was-he wasn't real-He _couldn't_ be….

He seemed amused by her speechlessness because his smirk only widened. "I'm not a trick," he said carefully, voice filling Jenny's head like water over rocks, drowning her common sense. "If you were being fooled, how do you think you would see me? Hm?"

As much as Jenny hated to admit it, he was right. Shadow Men took things from your memories. If this was a trick, she'd be seeing him as she last saw him, younger, smaller. Not older, not more crafted.

Julian carefully lifted his hand, catching Jenny's wild gaze, and put it on the end of the pole. Jenny could only watch, helplessly, as he slowly lowered the weapon away.

"I'm _real_ , Jenny."

Jenny could only stare for a bit longer. Then she heard metal clinking against cement and the next thing she knew, she had her arms around his neck. She was hugging him so tight so quick. She must've surprised him because his arms were up for a moment before wrapping back around her. And _God_ the way he held her-

He practically lifted her off her feet, such strength in his forearms as they wrapped around her waist. It was firm, dangerous. It was _marvelous._

Then Jenny shoved him as hard as she could, pinning him against the metal fence, not even thinking-realizing-what was she DOING?

She started to say an Egyptian rune, but before she got the words out, Julian twisted her arm off of him and with a single hand he had her pinned back against the other wall of their cage. The snarl of the tiger came far too close for Jenny's comfort but she couldn't take her eyes off him.

She attempted a kick, succeeded in making Julian flinch where she next threw a punch. But he caught that too easily and whisked her off the fence. Jenny caught herself and launched her elbow back, nailing some part of him that only resulted in a chuckle. Then he spun her back, causing her to fall against his chest. But Jenny side-stepped him, shouting another rune to get him off her.

They scuffled like this, twisting, punching, fighting until finally Jenny's foot slipped. On what she didn't know, but she was falling before she could catch herself-toward the door-where the tiger was.

But the hand on her lower back stopped her from hitting it. She stopped right before the metal door, leaning on her heels, back arched, neck craned. Julian had her tilted back, holding her up so easily, keeping her lingering like this solely by the grip on her wrist. He was over her, legs tangled, completely blocking her from any movement. And he held her there effortlessly, her head just on the line of danger, dipped back like they were in the middle of some extravagant dance.

Jenny felt her gasp choke in her throat and she jerked instantly, trying to get out of his grip. Then her ponytail was smacked from behind from the quick swipe of claws. The tiger was right behind her, barely in reach. If she moved at all-

But she had no grip on herself whatsoever. If Julian released her the slightest bit, the tiger would take her head clean off. So Jenny stiffened, clinging to the arm that held her up, and met the gaze of the Shadow Man she hadn't seen in four years.

The look on Julian's face was all too pleased, like he saw this coming and was just too satisfied that it went exactly the way it was supposed to.

"I win," Julian said smoothly, so simply, and _God_ , to hear that voice up close again sent something rocking inside Jenny that she had no way of controlling "So I ask you, Jenny, what should my prize be this time?"

His voice was so elemental, so majestic, so alluring. Jenny felt like she was drowning in it, lost in its other-worldly tone. And she had to force herself to jump out, to breathe air again. Especially when Julian was leaning closer, erasing the space between their faces.

She should've said a rune, something sharp to get him off her, but her instincts only resulted in her free hand snapping up, covering his mouth, preventing it from coming any closer than he already was. Those impossible blue eyes never left hers for a second, but she felt him smile under her palm and somehow she felt cheated.

"Let me go," she felt the words leave her lips rather than heard herself say it. But it came out too quiet, too weak.

Then his grip loosened on her, jerking her back. She gasped and grabbed his shoulder, bringing her head up just in time to feel the swipe of claws rip through her hair once more. But now she was even closer to him, face almost tucked into the crook of his neck. Julian looked at her, and it was by the thinnest sliver of air that their lips were separated.

"Ah, I get to choose the prize, remember?" Jenny felt the heat of his breath above her lips when he spoke and immediately she remembered the gentle kisses on her neck and feather-light touches-

She was about to make a punch for his gut when a snarl of the tiger went off behind her, like a warning.

Then Julian stood, bringing Jenny up with him. But their legs were still tangled, still pressed tight against him. He held her there for a minute, staring right through her, forcing Jenny to see him-to feel him-to share each breath. Her head was throbbing. She truly thought she was going to pass out, until the touch came to her cheek, so light it was ticklish, and a part of her grew steadier.

Jenny didn't know how long they were standing like this for because time didn't seem like a factor here, almost like in a dream, or back in the closet. No, the pain came as a reminder in both her bloody palm and her leg, waking her up, bringing her back.

She didn't bother trying to unravel their position-Not now. She was in the game, literally in the Shadow man's grasp. She was going to have to play it now, one way or another.

So instead she smacked his hand away, throwing it off her face, and met those glorious eyes with the strongest glare she could muster at the moment.

"Where's Zach?'

Oh Julian's smile was definitely different, much more _wicked_. "Did you really come here to talk about him?"

One of his hands moved, gliding down to her lower back, ghosting over the inch of bare skin that was exposed from their scuffle. Jenny had to force herself to ignore it. "I didn't come for a game of twenty questions."

Before he could answer her, she tried a punch to his throat, spitting a rune faster than he could even try and stop her. She felt his reaction, the jerk in his body, but all she managed was to untangle their legs. As soon as she got her footing back, however, Julian twisted her-spinning her too fast for her to try and break free without falling. When they finally broke their struggle, Jenny was still in his grasp, legs free, but they were closer to the door than before. Jenny had to lean up against the Shadow Man instead of being dipped back, and she felt the reminder from the swipe of claws behind her back.

"So you didn't come to talk to me?"

Oh, his face was too close. Jenny couldn't think of the proper response right away-This was worse. So much worse than the closet.

"Shut up-Stop it. I'm not playing your game. Give him back."

"Make me."

Jenny knew he was pushing her, but she couldn't help it. She jerked her elbow, as if she was going for his throat again, but she jerked her knee at the same time, nailing Julian between the legs. Demon or not, he was still a man in the same sense. His surprise was finally enough leverage for Jenny to break free from him.

Well, it was more like she fell away from him. She caught herself on the side wall of the cage before she heard the tiger's growl and jumped off it. She was standing in the center of the cage now, with the door and tiger behind her, and Julian mere inches from her.

Julian recovered, meeting her gaze again with his eyes three shades lighter, glistening like the brightest sapphires compared to the shadows that surrounded him. The thrill in those eyes, the excitement in his smile, didn't falter at all.

It was there that Jenny finally felt something-some part of herself-grow sturdier, finally stabilizing once and for all. Her mind cleared, her reasoning came back. She felt stronger. More herself.

So she straightened her back, met the demon head-on without the slightest hint of weakness. "Where _is_ he, Julian?"

The Shadow Man faced her just the same, shoulders squared with his hands politely behind his back, blackness as his background, reminding Jenny of the very first time she saw him. "That would be telling."

"Don't mess with me," she snapped. "I know you took him-And you tricked me into coming here. Now give him back."

"That's not how the game works." He punctuated himself by advancing closer on her. Jenny stood her ground. With the tiger snarling behind her, she couldn't exactly walk out the door. So she kept her chin high, not breaking her gaze with him as he completely invaded her space once more, trapping her even further than she already was. Once he was above her, towering over her like the spitting image of evil and power, he didn't say anything else. He merely examined her, looking her over like she was a fascinating piece of art work.

"I'm not playing your game."

"You already are." He smirked after that, much like a starving wolf baring its teeth. "But you don't have to play. You can just give up."

" _Ankh._ "

The power was effective immediately, knocking Julian's face to the side as if he had just been slapped. Jenny didn't waste her time. "This isn't funny. What did you do with him?"

Slowly, Julian looked back at her and although his smile was there, a new intensity shone in those cobalt blue eyes. "He played his own game, Jenny. And he 's facing the consequences-"

"You cracked open his head and left him there-"

"I could've done much worse, Jenny."

"You almost _killed_ him!" It was the way she screamed it, the fierceness in her voice, that struck the wrong chord in the air. Something changed in Julian's face, if just slightly, and he took a step back. "I didn't come here to-to catch up with you-You had four years to do that-And to take him away from me-" Something caught in Jenny's throat, something tough that she had to swallow down-quickly. "I'm bringing him _home_. Now tell me where he is or I'll go find him myself."

There was pause in the air where Julian could only stare at her. He looked her over once again, admiring the aggressiveness radiating off her like it was some kind of other-worldly glow. "You still haven't changed. Your spite, your fierceness. You're _gorgeous_."

It was that look on his face-the one that he had given her after he saved her-when he promised her the world with a kiss on the back of her hand-that made Jenny's defenses crack, and a bit of reality seeped in.

This was Julian. The Shadow Man she had shared _something_ with. He was from the part of her life that she missed so badly-The reason she was what she was-A Shadow Man Hunter that had gotten trapped with the very thing she was being trained to kill. The thing that had desired her all to himself and got it-the one that saved her more than once-

Saved her.

He swore on his existence to keep her from being harmed. Did that break when she was released? Was it still active now? Even so, Jenny remembered the look in those blue eyes, how pale they had gotten when he spoke of his Ancestors-the other Shadow Man-talking about harming her. He didn't want her harmed.

Jenny had to pray she was right. She knew it was stupid to believe in the words of a demon that lived off of trickery and lies, but if what they had in the closet-if what she had felt was _real_ , then she knew this would work.

Julian reached for her, and Jenny jumped.

Right for the door. She let her back collide with the metal fence, where the tiger was stalking her, and awaited the pain. She held her breath, clenched her eyes shut, expecting the pain to come ripping between her shoulder blades, tearing through her skin, shredding her muscles-

But it never came.

Eventually Jenny opened her eyes to see the tiger where it was, standing right at her heels, bloody yellow teeth bared and growling, but it didn't attack. She looked to Julian who had the slightest smirk at the edge of his lips, with almost a look of veneration on his face.

"Even now you still surprise me."

"And you still don't want me hurt," Jenny said aloud, to confirm it, to hear him say it one more time.

Something crossed over his eyes as he faced her and that smile was back. "Not _you_."

Her stomach sank at the realization. She jumped off the fence, immediately getting in his face, showing absolutely no fear to this demon of shadows. "If you hurt him, Julian, I _swear_ I'll-"

"You'll what?"

"I'll carve your name out."

It was a stupid thing to say, and Jenny knew the probability of her actually succeeding in such a task was nearly impossible, but she'd be damned if she was going to back down from the challenge-from Julian.

The Shadow man's smile was back in an instantly, beyond amused. "You wouldn't do that."

"Oh, yeah?"

"You wouldn't be able to live without it."

"Without what?"

"The _thrill_ , Jenny." Suddenly he was in her space again, speaking over her lips in a voice that was truly exalted. "The chase, the hunt, the **kill**. You live off it, Jenny, you know you do-And you've missed it. Hiding it for _so long_. Trying to close yourself from what you truly are-"

"Stop it."

"But you don't want me to. Admit it; you've missed my games. You've missed _me_ -"

Jenny tried to move away. She really did. She attempted at jumping passed him, anything to put some space between them, but in the next instant she was against the fence-pinned with Julian above her. The tiger was there in a flash, literally leaning up against the fence behind her, the tips of bloody claws threateningly close to Jenny's back, and those rotting, vicious jaws right behind her head. It was growling in one ear, snarling as a warning, making her gut jump in anxiety-But then Julian was whispering in her other ear, holding her arms pinned to the fence, stilling her, forcing her to stop and listen.

When he spoke it was in a voice as soft as velvet. It made everything in Jenny begin to melt. "Come back with me, Jenny. We can go back to what we had. I can still give you everything-"

"No, stop it." She attempted a jerk, but she already knew it was going to fail. Because she was weak where Julian was strong.-Unable to fight back from such bittersweet words being whispered in her ear. Julian even released one of her wrists to grab her face, cupping it urgently, and his voice only intensified in her ear, to the point where her mind felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

"Play with me, Jenny. For eternity. Laugh at the rules. Stoke the fire. Run across the realms-With me by your side. We can have a lifetime of games-"

She jerked her head away when she felt his lips moving across her face, that husky voice ghosting over, toward her lips-But then the tiger was there, giving such a nasty growl that Jenny couldn't help but gasp.

Everything was getting muddled. She couldn't focus-couldn't think straight. Julian's hand moved down her throat, his touch coming as ticklish as a breeze, surfacing goose bumps immediately, just like in the Maze. The reminder of that only made things worse. She was dizzy. She was falling.

"No, I-I can't-"

"You're not happy there. I've seen it. Unable to show what you are. Unable to act as you please. You're not _yourself_ with them Jenny."

Somehow she got her free hand between them where she gave him a shove, but the farthest she got was getting the Shadow Man back enough to see his face. She was still pinned-still falling and desperately reaching for something to catch her-Julian _always_ caught her-

"Of course I cant! They would-"

"They'd shun you. I told you didn't I?" There was something gentle in the words that made the strength in Jenny's arm fail. She couldn't try to push him away again; she couldn't even break his gaze. "They won't ever understand, Jenny…But I do. Remember? What we had, Jenny-the way you shine when you fight, when you play."

Jenny tried to say something, anything really. Her mind searched for an excuse-for a rune to use-to somehow find her reasoning to argue against everything he was saying when he was speaking the truth-

But then she was staring at it-At such an impossible blue, faded so strongly that it resembled an early November sky. There was a shadow behind them, a shadow of weakness that Jenny had seen only once-when she had been ripped away from him.

Suddenly seeing it now made something very tight, very painful grow in her chest. She had no way of stopping Julian when he touched her again; fingers as cool as marble stroking down her cheek in a touch as light as gauze.

"I want you back," he said it so softly-so _raw_ \- that Jenny truly believed it was meant for himself, slipped out on accident. "He took you away from me. I wanted to grab you so _badly_ , to keep you there."

Then she remembered, a bit of clarity coming through the cotton in her head-of her cousin-of who she had come to save. "He was protecting me," she finally got out.

"It upset you. I saw it. When you woke up and didn't find me there-"

"You _saw_?" It wasn't until Jenny saw the change in Julian's eye that she realized how broken that sounded.

Julian was closer, his grip slowly rising up her arms, to her neck, to her face, controlling her focus-her thoughts. "I haven't taken my eyes off of since you left. I've watched you, Jenny. And you looked for me-"

"You're lying." She ripped his hands away, but in one swift motion, Julian had them pinned against the fence once again. He was trying to meet her gaze, but Jenny couldn't-she _couldn't_ or else she'd believe him-A Shadow Man-A demon of lies and trickery. "Y-You couldn't have-You didn't do anything-For _four years._ You're lying _-"_

"I couldn't touch you. Not there. Or else I would've, Jenny. But I did reach out to you. In every way I could."

Jenny was ready to scream at him until he said that. Her first thought was the Maze, how he was in the mirror, tricking her. But his smile during her thought process said it was more than that. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't play dumb, Jenny. Did you really think some simple markings around your pillow would keep me out of your head?"

Oh God, she had been right. He was in her head, making her dream of him. Then he knew _everything_ -He really had been there for every single fantasy she envisioned at night-

He was moving closer to her, on the verge of pressing his body against hers again, but suddenly there was anger. The realization that he had a slight connection to Earth, to talk to her. That he took her cousin-started a game-instead of simply coming to her first. The realization hurt so bad that Jenny was _screaming,_ and shoved Julian so hard that he was knocked back right into the fence.

"No, you _lied_ to me!" She was snapping, quickly. "You have done nothing but trick and lie to me from day one. You didn't save me-Zach was there that day. He came for me immediately-"

"You were bleeding out," Julian interrupted just as fast. He came off the fence, approaching her fast. "You were injured by a trans-dimensional blast, Jenny. A simple band aid doesn't fix that. By the time those paramedics would've arrived, you would have been dead."

Jenny hesitated, and it was in that pause that she noticed her breathing-erratic, panting. Before she could figure out whether he was truly lying or not, he was saying, "Did your precious cousin also tell you why he burned down the house? To try and kill me? To hide your grandfather's identity from anyone so to not question your sanity? To prevent you from getting back to me?"

Jenny hated it-She really hated it, but she couldn't answer him. She was thinking on it, thinking back to all the questions she asked her cousin that he refused to answer.

"He didn't, did he?"

It was the harshness in Julian's voice that reminded Jenny exactly what he was-what she was dealing with. But that only made the knot in her chest grow tighter, inducing such a sharp pain that it actually threatened tears. Jenny had to choke those back. She _wasn't_ going to cry in front of the enemy. _Ever_.

Instead she snapped, "And I'm supposed to believe you?"

"Yes."

"Fuck you."

He laughed, and Jenny had to look away. She was stuck. Should she run? Screw that tiger-Julian wouldn't let it hurt her. Should she go home? No, she needed Zach. She needed to stop _listening_ to him. But when he took a step closer, Jenny inevitably looked back at him.

"Would you believe me if I said I loved you?"

Her heart jumped, but Jenny didn't hesitate. "No."

Julian smiled at that, just as plaint and amused from the moment she landed in the closet.

"Of course you wouldn't. Why would a Shadow Man love a human? Why would he fall for the one girl in all the worlds who knows how to kill him? The only one to stop him-"

"To beat you," she said breathlessly, and it wasn't until after she heard herself say it that she was force to accept it. To accept the fact that their relationship-whatever they had-was completely beyond her. No, not just her, passed both of them.

"You _do_ something to me, Jenny. Something even the runes can't control. I didn't ask for it, but I can't stop it. I don't want to. And neither do you." When he approached her this time, it was slow, almost cautious, slowly shrinking Jenny's world until it was just the two of them-alone-again. His voice dropped dangerously low and he spoke over her lips once again, saying, "You've felt it, Jenny. And I know you miss it. I saw it, in all your dreams. I gave you whatever you wanted there. Let me give you the real thing. The rush. The adrenaline, the fear when I put you in the line of danger, forced you to fight impossible things-the _thrill_ -"

Jenny _did_ feel it, the adrenaline coming back to her with a quick snarl of the tiger behind her, but she wouldn't let herself be swept away again. She ripped out one of the knives from her belt, enchanted from the Egyptian carvings on the blade, and she had it against Julian's throat in a flash. He backed off immediately, but Jenny followed him, keeping his neck at the tip of her blade constantly as she advanced on him, spitting, "What about the weakness, huh? When you told me everything, when you promised to never hurt me. You looked torn apart when you talked about your ancestors killing me. Was that a trick, too?"

For once, Julian didn't have an answer. He merely smiled at her as she backed him into the corner of the cage. For a minute they stood there, staring at each other, and Jenny's mind cleared. Whatever spell he had on her finally wore off and Jenny felt herself-the part she _really_ knew-come back stronger than before.

"I can't trust you. I never can. You lied to me. You tricked me. You took my cousin and now I'm here to get him back no matter what you do."

Just like that, Julian's smile was as wicked as ever, sending them right back to the beginning of the argument. Any trace of vulnerability or tenderness was long gone, replaced by the cold cruelty that was a Shadow Man.

"And you plan on just walking out of here?" As a reminder, the tiger let out a low growl, but Jenny wasn't scared.

"Not without Zach."

Julian clicked his tongue at her, as if she was a child that had misbehaved. "Sorry, Jenny. You weren't a player in that game."

"What are you talking about?" When Julian didn't answer, she emphasized her question by pressing the knife closer to his throat, causing him to tilt his head back into the fence. His smile didn't waver. Instead, a new look came into his eyes, one that was undeniably _hungry_.

"You're **marvelous** when you take control, you know that?"

Surprisingly, Jenny felt marvelous, but she didn't let his words distract her. "Shut up. What game? What did you do to him?"

"I gave Zachary two choices, and he made one. Nothing you can do about that, Jenny."

Jenny took a minute to process that. "Zach wouldn't choose to stay here."

Julian gave a small shrug. "You'd be surprised what you don't know about your own flesh and blood." As if to clarify, he then asked, "Do you know what was going through your cousin's mind when he attacked you all those years ago?"

And just like that, Jenny's strength faded, and she felt _terrible_.

She must've made some sort of face because Julian saw it-He always did. "I do. I made him realize that, and he made his choice."

Jenny felt the fear-felt it creeping up her spine, but she gripped the knife harder. "Give him back." She said it tough, no more fooling around. It was the end of the argument, one way or another, and she made that clear.

And Julian knew. It was clear in his eyes, and he responded firmly. "Oh, Jenny, I thought you knew everything about Shadow Men? Nothing's free."

Jenny snapped a rune immediately, but then Julian was knocking her arm away from him. He snatched her wrist with the blade before she could turn it on him. There was a twist, then Jenny's own arm was pinned behind her back. She screamed and tried to pivot away, but Julian was there, standing behind her, his other arm wrapped around her chest. She was trapped-Her arm could break-

"Play a game with me, Jenny." He was whispering in her ear again. "Just like before, with all the same rules. Beat me, and I'll show you where your precious cousin is. If I win, then you stay here. With me."

"No."

" _Yes_. Or you can give up, right now. Come with me. Be mine, and I'll let you explore the side of you that you were meant to thrive in."

Jenny had to close her eyes, to think.

Calm down, she told herself. Don't panic. Think. Think of another way out- **Bargains**! Her grandfather always stressed the bargains they made.

But that just brought on a whole new level of panic.

Jenny tried to keep her voice steadier than her pulse. "Give him back, a-and I'll play a game with you."

"Ah, a life is only as valuable as another life, Jenny. I'll return him to Earth if you stay here."

Shit. She couldn't. She couldn't switch places with him-Zach would find out. He would come here-And he wouldn't be dealing with Julian-

"I _can't_."

"Then play the game."

Jenny struggled, both physically and mentally. How was she supposed to say no to that when he was literally forcing her hand? She didn't stand a chance in this place on her own. If Julian didn't interfere with her attempts at finding Zach, then the other Shadow Man would. And she couldn't face them all at once like that-She never learned how.

So she was forced to make a choice. Did he force Zach's hand, too? He must've. But oddly enough, the more Jenny thought on it, the calmer she became. She had to think clearly, map it out. She was stuck here. Zach was captured somewhere. She could take her chances against the other Shadow Man. Or she could face Julian's trick, just like before, to try and win her cousin back. And she knew how to face Julian.

She wouldn't admit to herself about the sliver of anxiety that made its way into her core, but she couldn't hide it. She forced her hand to relax, dropping the knife to the ground with a clink that echoed too loudly. There was a pause, then Julian released her, spinning her around in the process. He was smiling because he already knew her answer. How could she afford to say no? But God it was hard to say yes. No matter how easily the word came out in the end.

"Fine."

Something glorious shone in those sapphire eyes, making Jenny quickly add, "On _all_ the same rules. You cannot cheat, and you have to be honest-And _fair_ , and you have to give him back-"

Oh, it already was unfair. Because half-way through her rant, Julian got down on one knee-just like four years ago-and bowed to her. And just like before, when he reached for her hand, Jenny couldn't refuse, allowing him to place the kiss on the back of her hand.

It was there that Jenny knew this game would be entirely different from the others. And as much as she cursed herself for it, a part of her was thrilled from it.

 **Ok WHOOO FINALLY DX Sorry it took so long guys, this was very hard to perfect so please excuse any mistakes. I hope I didn't disappoint any of you with this chapter. Now the plot is solid (how many times will I say that then change it? DX) As of the rest of you who follow my other fics, I will be updating 12 Years Ago very soon. And for those of you who liked Dark to Light, Light to Dark I HAVE made a sequel. It is not up yet because, again, polishing it, working out the kinks in the plot, but keep your eyes open for it. I will post a link to the story when it is up.**

 **So yeah! That's all I got, hope this chapter was good. Please review with any questions or advice so I know how I'm doing :D thanks guys!**

 **Till my next update!**

 **ZVA**


	5. Chapter 5

Jenny couldn't remember the last time she ran this hard. The balls of her feet were aching. Her lungs were burning. A cramp threatened in her side, but she ignored that with the single-minded focus that her grandfather had always taught her.

She had already lost count of the things Julian had her fight. The tiger had been easy. She had snapped a few consecutive runes as she opened the door, then got a knife under his jaw before it could recover. By the time she had gotten out of the animal cage, Julian had sicked a Korrigan on her. She had fought the thing before, back in the closet, only once. The tiny, disfigured little creature much resembled a dwarf of some sort in a tiny matted green suit, a long nose, beady eyes, and big ears. They were pitiful creatures, which Jenny proved with two runes a kick to the face. When their numbers increased, however, it took a little more fighting and some sulfuric powder from a pouch on her belt to finish them. He had given her something else to fight, then made her solve a riddle while spinning on the broken carousel, hearing the Shadow Man as the world spun and tossed her around wildly, but only seeing him from blurry glimpses in the shattered mirrors of the ride. Once she had jumped off that, she had began to run.

Her grandfather had always taught her that if she was falling behind in the game, was being to lose the upper hand, to run. Running never meant fear. No, running was buying time. It was a matter of putting distance between her and her opponent, giving the opportunity to catch up, to think on her next step to get back ahead of the game. Besides almost every creature liked to chase their prey. They always followed.

Running through the park was odd at first. She hadn't really taken it in earlier when she first arrived, from the shock of course, but now she was strangely curious. It was almost like she was running through the same park on Earth only at night time, after a bulldozer made a few laps and left it to rot for a few hundred years. She ran straight into the food court just as she had done hours ago with her friends, only the hot dog stand wasn't a rotting pile of wood, and the ice cream stand wasn't one large molding blob.

She finally had to stop to catch her breath, stopping in the center of the court, giving herself ample room around her to be see any enemies coming from the shadows. In the silence of her heaving pants for breath, she felt the smile pull onto her lips. "Seriously?"

She had mumbled it to herself; she hadn't been expecting an answer. But Julian's voice come flowing out of nowhere-from the shadows around her. "What's the matter, Jenny? Tired already?"

Jenny could only shake her head, knowing he could see her from wherever the hell he was. "Nope. It's just," she panted between breaths, "after four years….You send Korrigans? Really, I'm disappointed."

She heard his chuckle, and judging by its dastardly tone, he was sending her something else to play with. So she turned to keep moving, and was face-to-face with someone.

Apart of her was shocked, obviously, to suddenly see a living person in this place. Until the other part of her, the hunter side, seemed to smack her senses awake, and she jumped back right as the monster swung for her.

It wasn't until she backed away that she saw what it really was. Not a person, but a human body still the same. Two arms, two legs, and a head with bloodshot eyes and rotting skin. Just like the tiger, clumps of rotting muscle and tissue were falling off the body, revealing the bones underneath. And the thing was still moving, sauntering towards her as a smelly, sickening corpse.

She cringed immediately and continued to back up as the creature advanced on her. It was so slow, but it's stench was horrific, and those bloody yellow teeth didn't look too welcoming. She never did like zombies, even in movies. She had never thought too much on it because she figured, dealing with Shadow Men, she wouldn't have to face one.

Boy, was she wrong.

Now she circled the thing, keeping her distance, trying to figure it out. It didn't have a heart. Didn't have a weak point. It didn't even feel pain. The only thing it felt was hunger. That's why its one non-sunken eye was following her as it moaned and pursued her with arms outstretched.

"Take your time."

Jenny scowled at the remark from the shadows. It pushed her enough to take a swing at the beast, running up and kicking it in the gut. She was merely trying to knock it over. Maybe it was as dumb as a turtle and wouldn't be able to get back up. But the move hardly phased the walking corpse, only making it double over from the impact. Then it was grabbing her.

Panic was what got Jenny free again, mere scrambling and jerking until it lost its grip. She put distance between herself and it again, watching it carefully. _Look_ , her grandfather had always told her. _Everything has a weak point._

"Would you like a hint?"

"Shut up," Jenny snapped. She never stopped moving. Moving in slow, wide circles to keep the zombie following her at a safe distance. "I don't need your help."

"Oh, but I think you do."

It got to close to Jenny, making her snap an Egyptian rune usually used to help souls along the way to the afterlife. It knocked the corpse back pretty hard. "You wouldn't even tell me if I asked you to."

"Of course I would. But I told you, Jenny. Nothing's free."

Somehow the statement was too salacious for Jenny to handle. She was going to say something back, until she saw it. The corpse was limping slightly on one leg. So Jenny carefully approached it and when it swiped for her, she side stepped it, dropped to the ground, and jabbed her heel into the side of its knee. There was a sickening _**crack**_ , then the corpse collapsed to the ground.

Jenny rolled away before it could recover, but the monster couldn't stand back up. Instead, it clawed the ground around it, hardly moving anywhere at all. Jenny got back up and smiled down at the useless monster at her feet.

Then came the chuckle. "Boring."

Jenny had to roll her eyes. "Oh, please. I stopped it from attacking me."

"Yes, but you didn't _defeat_ it."

Oh, right. That was always the point in their past scuffles. If the rules were the same then Jenny had to conquer everything Julian threw at her.

She was staring down at the pathetic being as it scrambled around in the dirt, trying to get to her, and a terrible thought came to her. It was cruel when she first thought of it, but then she decided otherwise. Her hunter side gave in to it easily, and with a wave of her bloody finger she said, " _Kenaz_."

There was a spark, then the zombie was lit on fire. The flames engulfed its already rotting body, burning the rest of it away bit by bit. It was unnerving how its hungry moans didn't change at all, even though it looked like someone was being burned alive.

Jenny walked away before she could think too much on it, ignoring the odd feeling seeping into her gut. She moved out of the food court and into the entrance of the roller coaster section. She was still panting as she walked. Her eyes were constantly moving around her, checking for any sort of movement in the shadows.

"All right," she said to the shadows this time. "I've had enough of cat and mouse. When are you going to tell me the rules? Huh? You're making this _too_ easy."

"Am I?"

His voice came in crystal clear this time, making Jenny whirl around. He was there, off to the right of the path, half masked in shadows, hands politely behind his back.

Jenny met the delicious challenge in his eyes equally, just like the first time in the closet during the beginning of their twenty questions game. "Leprechauns and a zombie? Really? You were more fun in the closet."

The demon's wicked smile was back in an instant, easily seen from the shadows. "Be careful what you wish for, Jenny."

Jenny heard the massive _whoosh_ of air right above her, then she was literally snatched off her feet.

The pressure came in a painful blow to her shoulders, dragging her right off the ground in two immensely strong grips. The wind whipped at her so bad she couldn't even scream. Gravity worked against her, pulling all her weight and strength down from whatever had her. It was after a bit of flailing that Jenny was able to open her eyes and see properly. The grips around her shoulders were from gigantic paws with talons as big as her forearm. They were hooked right under her shoulders, striking pain when she tried to break herself free.

It was seeing the beast holding her, and the enormous wings it was beating to lift them up higher in the air, that made the feeling Jenny was choking down come springing to life.

She didn't know what it was, but it's body was that of a lion twice its normal size. It's wings and head, however, were that of an eagle, with dark, bristled feathers slowly diminishing into the fur of its body. As if sensing her gaze, it's head bent down to her and let out such a loud shriek that Jenny's ear popped painfully, causing her to wince.

She could already hear Julian laughing at her as she was dangled higher and higher off the ground so she immediately snapped a rune that caused the beasts rhythmic flying to stutter. It shrieked again, but Jenny said it again, and again; and another, making the beast lose its focus. It swerved, it panicked. It's wings beat faster, coming very close to Jenny underneath it's body. It's two front paws, which had been tucked under its chest, came swinging down, swiping at Jenny's limp arms. She felt the burn race across her wrist, making her scream. But the blood was a reminder.

With crimson, aching fingers, Jenny reached back the best she could until she could draw the symbol on the beast's leg that held her. As it squawked and swerved, Jenny made sure the symbol was completely finished before she began. She had to close her eyes and repeat the chant in a very specific order. She felt the power, how fierce it seemed to pierce the beast so quickly, then they dropped like a dead weight.

The claws didn't release her as they plummeted, making Jenny brace herself for the impact. Its wing flapped pathetically as it mewled and roared and hissed, but it was useless. That seal was basically a poison, inflicting pain upon the creature like a thousand hot needles racing through its body the closer it got to its target. And with Jenny's blood, she was the target. So its pain only got worse, causing them to run right into some building.

The crash was rough, but the creature took most of the hit, swinging Jenny so that she hit the wall after. She fell from its grip right to the old wooden awning of whatever building they hit. Only the rotten wood broke under her weight, sending her right to the ground. The creature, she heard, landed somewhere ahead of her.

Her whole body throbbed and her bloody arms were stinging in pain. How badly gravity weighed down on her, but Jenny got up anyway, groaning as something painful argued in her back. She dug herself out from the pile of wood around her, and so far nothing seemed broken or impaled. The shrieking was her reminder, kicking her instincts to ignore the pain and get back to her feet. It wasn't graceful, but she got up, making sure her breathing was under control as she stumbled away from the building. She found the creature, just off to the side, flailing around on its back, shrieking and crying as the poison still coursed through its body. But it was getting back up, trying to stay on its feet or fly off the ground, and failing.

Jenny was watching it, panting, trying to think-Should she run? Trap it down? Kill it?

"It will keep coming after you, you know."

Jenny didn't bother looking for him. She answered between her pants for breath, and tried to work out the painful knot growing in her side. "Then I'll trap it down."

"Mmm, that won't work."

"Shut up."

"It's a Gryphon, Jenny. Gryphon's are fierce guards of divine power."

She was already kneeling down, ready to draw the bloody runes to create the net-like structure of power, but still she asked, "So?"

"So Egyptian energy is a direct source of divine power"

Shit.

Jenny stopped, biting her lower lip as she realized he was right. If anything, the attempt at the trap would only give it more power. The only reason the seal she used before had worked was because it was from Celtic culture, a type of dark sorcery, not Egyptian. Damn.

She jumped back to her feet as the creature finally got its balance back, but it didn't take off right away. It worked its wings fiercely, beady eyes glaring Jenny down, and letting out little clicks of frustration. With its hind legs hunched low like that, it looked about ready to charge.

Jenny immediately started back-peddling, not even thinking of what could appear behind her in this new section of the park. Julian's voice came in a dark tease the second she started moving. "Need some help?"

"No. How many more things do you intend for me to fight?"

"As many as it takes, Jenny. But you can still end it, you know."

Jenny was still watching the Gryphon as it ruffled its feathers and flexed its claws into the black ground. It took her a second for Julian's words to hit her, and her strength over powered her concern. "You're right," she answered firmly, "I'll end this game when I beat you. No matter how many things you throw at me."

Julian was still lingering the shadows out of Jenny's sight, so she would never know the absolutely astonished and admiring expression he had on his face from that.

Jenny turned to run back into the heart of the park, only the zombie was there again, blocking her way. It looked the same as the one before only its leg wasn't broken, and it was faster. Jenny had to choke back her gasp as she dodged its swinging arm. But then she saw the one behind it, and the one behind that. She heard the familiar snickers of the Korrigans and saw their group of ten or so coming from the corner of her eye. She tried to turn without getting close to the corpses so her back wasn't to the creatures, but there were snarls of something vicious, like a wolf behind her. Then the groan of a Jotunheim troll, and the shrieking of the Gryphon. They were all around her in seconds, too quick for Jenny to evaluate-to think-

There was a moment-just a sliver of time-where Jenny had met all of their gazes, seen all of their faces one by one. Outnumbered. Out powered. Then they all jumped on her at once, and Jenny's human side completely shut down.

She reacted, she defended. She attacked, she rebelled. She moved her feet exactly as her grandfather had taught her. She landed those kicks better than her cousin ever did. There was no rational thinking, no planning. She went off their attacks, constantly moving to prevent all of them from tackling her. It wasn't smooth, not at first. It was frantic in the beginning, her body moving merely to stay alive. But the more it dwelled on, the more her instincts came alive, the more fluid she became. She began to twist their own moves against them, turning just in time to make them run into each other. Using the runes to make them trip over themselves, and using their confusion to get the upper hand, to put some distance between them. But they still all had her cornered, trapped in their vicious circle. Until Jenny was skillful enough to make the Jotunheim troll stumble and fall. Then she threw the Korrigan off her shoulder, into the troll's face, then jumped on its back. She used his boney spine to jump out of the vicious circle, and she charged.

Oh, but they were quick. The Gryphon made a dive for her, which she avoided almost too well. The zombies were on her ankles, and the Korrigans were cutting her off. They were all coming after her, attacking her again and again. And Jenny fought back every single one. She didn't stop. Even when she felt the bloody aches, even when they all seemed to be getting ahead of her, she kept moving, running, fighting. It was quick. It was tough.

By the time Jenny stopped moving, she found herself cornered yet again. Behind her was a bridge, crossing over a moat of black tar, leading to an isolated island that only held a tall, abandoned lighthouse. Yet, she hadn't crossed it. She stopped right at its threshold, trying to think when her blood was roaring in her ears-lungs burning. She didn't feel right-Something was wrong. She wasn't even breathing right.

She heard the shriek of the Gryphon, the snap of the Shadow Wolf's jaws. When she took a look at all of her components, she actually saw a difference. The Gryphon's wing was broken. The wolf was limping. The zombies were slower. The Korrigans were swollen, their green skin tinted purple from bruises. Even the troll, as tall and lumpy as it was, looked like a walking bloody waterfall. They were all definitely battered, but still closing in on her. For a moment, she considered setting a trap on the other side of the bridge, at least stopping the zombies and the Korrigans. If the Gryphon and the wolf jumped over, she could get rid of them with another seal.

And yet….

The wolf pounced at her, and how fast she basically punched it away- _There_. There it was. That strange feeling, the reason she was fighting so well. It was the adrenaline. It was coursing through her faster than her heart could handle. It was tingling through her roots, electrifying her senses. She finally realized the reason her face hurt wasn't because of the bruise forming under her eye, but because her lips were pulled up-smiling ear to ear. Her breathing was so off because she was _laughing_. She wasn't scared at all. She was having _fun._

So instead of running away, to set up a defined trap, Jenny ran **at** them, recklessly allowing them to circle her again. She continued to fight them, all at once. She was weightless, untouchable, finishing this fight like it was a dance she knew a million times over. She let it drag on, let the sweet thrill linger in her high longer, kicking away the Korrigans, slapping the troll in the face, poking the wolf in the eye. She broke off one of the Gryphon's legs with a seal and swift kick, then used the jagged bone to smash the troll's head in. She used one of the Korrigans as a shield against the wolf's next attacking, and stabbed the beast in the chest with her enchanted blade. Another rune and the rest of the Korrigans went falling into the river of tar like a row of dominoes.

She defeated them, all of them. Runes or not, she stopped them, one by one, harshly, skillfully. The entire time, she felt it. How good it felt to beat the Gryphon. How _fun_ it was to freeze the zombies in place, then make them shatter. She fought them like a true hunter-Yes, she was a hunter. A trained, quick, beautiful hunter that could stop anything that came her way-Not scared of a mere tiger behind bars. Not afraid of the boogeyman under her bed. She dragged the boogeyman out by the throat and trapped his ass down faster than anything in all the nine worlds could believe. And she _relished_ in that.

Then it was done. She was stopped before the mouth of the bridge again, looking down at the creatures that had tried to kill her-at their still corpses-and she was still smiling. The air was crackling with electricity. Her pulse was racing with the adrenaline-the pleasure-the _thrill_. She was **exhilarated.** She loved it. She breathed it in deeper, drowned in the euphoria coursing through her veins until it fully consumed her-her reasoning-her thoughts.

She heard Julian behind her, saying something, but she didn't catch it. She immediately turned on him, swiping at his chest with her enchanted blade so fast that the Shadow Man barely dodged it. But then she was shouting an Egyptian rune, one that knocked him back, onto the bridge to the lighthouse.

Jenny was moving weightlessly again, pursuing him as she snapped rune after rune, swiping the blade at him, attempted a kick and a punch. The Shadow Man blocked her easily, constantly moving backwards over the bridge. They moved together fluidly, Jenny chasing, Julian defending until they finally crossed the bridge, landing on cold dead grass on the other side. It was then that Julian attacked back, shouting a rune of his own, making Jenny stumble. But she used the momentum to make another swipe with her blade. They didn't miss a beat-They were equally matched. It was surely the most intense quarrel they ever had.

The next thing Jenny knew, she was clinging to the Shadow Man, kissing him relentlessly. Her hands were around his neck, in his silky white hair, across his marble-smooth cheeks as he kissed her with a single-minded intensity that was usually reserved for only the best of games. They were white-hot kisses, tasting like starlight and wonder, and it filled Jenny's blood with air. It was addicting-She was kissing back just as fiercely.

Then he changed the pressure of the kisses the same time he pulled her closer, crushing their bodies together, and Jenny's gut sank in pure excitement. They were kissing faster now, lips moving as fluidly as their fight moments ago, unable to break apart even for air. They were stumbling together, kissing harder, deeper. Time was instantly lost-They kissed until it was the only thing that existed, until the game-Zach- was a distant memory.

Jenny was so lost in it-She had only done this once-She had only kissed this man-this demon of fears and tricky-on the cheek. To kiss him on the lips-She never expected this. It made everything- _everything_ else in all the nine worlds seem so _boring_.

Soon Jenny's back collided with something hard as Julian pinned her against the wall of the lighthouse. Jenny released a tiny breathless gasp between the kisses before Julian swallowed that with the next kiss. He was touching her-hands roaming up and down her sides and into the tangles of her honey hair-And Jenny was doing the same, hugging his neck, feeling the pale perfect skin of his collar bone, relishing in the hard muscles that were against her. Then he had her by the legs and with one pull Jenny was off the ground. The kisses didn't break even then, as Julian wrapped Jenny's legs around his waist, pressing her harder into the wall. It brought on a whole new intimacy to the moment, changing the kisses, making them slower, but _deeper_. She tasted him-Cold, pure evil on her tongue so similar to cinnamon mixed with pure uncontrollable fire.

Oh, it was invigorating, breath-taking. It made every single one of Jenny's nerves tingle as if electrocuted. Her skin was quivering-Hair standing on end-Her blood was rushing. Oh, it was wrong-Jenny knew-But she couldn't help herself. It made every inch of her, inside and out, feel utterly **alive**.

That's why Jenny broke the kiss. She gave a very skillful twist of her legs and a shove, then they were on the ground. She forced Julian to land flat on his back, where Jenny followed him effortlessly, landing above him. She straddled his waist, holding herself up by hands on his chest. Their gazes met for about half a second before Jenny had her enchanted knife again. She couldn't remember what she had done with it before, during their struggle, but she had it now, gently pressed against his throat, stilling him there under her, powerless.

For a while they could only stare at each other like that, blood still rushing, both panting wildly for breath. It was there, holding all the power above the Shadow Man, that Jenny realized she had never seen the demon look like this before. Even under her, unable to fight back, he never looked so _feral_. Those impossible blue eyes were so light, like unattainable colors that lingered between the worlds-a blue so light it was almost purple-so enchanting they were practically glowing. His hair was a mess, bangs hanging in his face, and even his clothes were rumpled, which Jenny now realized he had on a tight black vest over a silky white button up shirt without the first few buttons. As he stared up at her Jenny finally recognized the look on his face-by the tiniest smile on the corner of his lips-just screamed pure, raw satisfaction.

And Jenny was smiling back. The high was still in her blood, racing her heart, making her dizzy and giddy and wild-So very wild that she hunched a bit lower over the Shadow Man, leaning down to just above his face where they were now sharing each breath. The way he searched her, how those eyes saw right through her, she now wondered what he saw. She felt her hair, out of its ponytail, laying in messy golden strands along her back, even hanging a bit in Julian's face. She was flushed and exalted and smiling-

"I win," she finally said aloud, but it hardly sounded like herself; so breathless, so stirred up.

Something wondrous flashed in Julian's eyes and his smile came out to its full extent, almost ear to ear, utterly pleased. Jenny noticed his hands, slowly sliding up her thighs, ticking her through her jeans, and coming to a graceful stop at her hips. He spoke just as breathlessly as her, between pants, only his voice came out as mystical as Jenny ever heard it.

"Yes, you have, love. _Beautifully_ done, might I add."

They sat like that for a moment longer, staring, waiting.

Jenny felt it draining, the sweet delicacy of such a high slowly draining from her blood bit by bit. She started to really take in account where she was, what she was doing, sitting on the lap of Shadow Man after just making out with him-after their fight-

A knot formed in her chest, caused from the more mundane side of her, cursing herself for being so stupid. She was here to save her cousin and yet here she was, rolling around and kissing the enemy. Her body was still light from it, pleasure still lingering under skin, especially when Julian gave her hips the slightest squeeze and shifted-feeling him under her so intimately-

She hid her gasp pretty well, but she was wide awake now, instincts reviving almost effortlessly. "Where-Where's Zach?" She had to swallow quickly after that, getting her voice back to its firm, steady tone. "Now you have to show me where he is."

Julian's smile didn't change. His chest still rose and fell under her hand as he caught his breath. "Sorry, love, but that's only after you win the entire game."

The confusion finally wore off the rest of Jenny's smile, making her grimace slightly. "I don't get it."

"Round one, Jenny," Julian clarified. "He took you from me for four years. Thus, four rounds. Pass all four and I'll take you to your cousin."

The high was entirely gone now. Instead, a cold intensity took its place, making Jenny shudder at the realization and she sat up straight in an instant, pressing the knife fully against Julian's neck. "You-! That's not fair!"

Julian rolled his eyes. "Oh, Jenny let's not get into that-"

"You cheated!" Jenny snapped and finally jumped off the Shadow Man. She put enough distance between them, making sure not to trap herself between him and the lighthouse by aiming for the bridge. "You didn't tell me that. You lied!"

"I did no such thing." Julian got back to his feet almost in a professional sense, fixing his clothes as he faced her head-on once more. "We agreed to a game. You never asked for the full details."

"Yes, I did," Jenny countered. "While I was fighting. You didn't answer me."

When Julian merely smiled at her, Jenny felt her temper flare. He wasn't smiling wickedly at her like before. No, he still held that satisfied smiling as he looked her up and down, reminding Jenny of how she gasped from the way he touched her-

She gave a frustrated groan and put her back to him, hearing him chuckle softly.

"Don't be mad, Jenny." His voice came closer to her, making Jenny stiffen but remain in place. "You know how the games work."

Something coiled in Jenny's gut, something bittersweet that caused a physical twinge of pain, as she remembered the games he used to put her through-Back in the closet where there was no danger, where he put her before a monster, before a place, pushing her to figure it out on her own-Without a hostage to force her.

"That was before," she mumbled, much like a stubborn child. After putting the knife back in her belt, she faced him, arms crossed and glaring. "You weren't holding anything against me before. I'm not here to have fun with you. I'm here to save my cousin. Because you _stole_ him."

"I disagree. We were surely having fun a minute ago-"

Jenny didn't realize she had moved to slap him until he caught her wrist in mid-air. His face changed, sterner, like he disapproved of the move. He asked her with her hand still in his grip, eyes on her so firmly, "Am I wrong?"

Jenny didn't answer. She didn't have to. She couldn't even remember if she had initiated the first kiss or not-she was so delirious from the fight-from the adrenaline. Of course she couldn't straight out deny it, but she wasn't going to lose.

"Shut up."

She ripped her hand away, and her body finally recognized the ache in her bones. She felt the linger of a soreness waiting under her skin, in her muscles that she clearly just pushed passed their limits. She felt a few cuts on her legs, a harsh one under her arm from the flying beast, including the scratch on the back of her calf from the tiger, and of course her hands. The bloody cuts now throbbed with her heartbeat, aching a little more than Jenny liked. Just as she was looking down at herself, Julian's hand came up.

Jenny flinched, looked up at him and Julian froze. He didn't say anything, merely stared right into her. He moved slowly, reaching for Jenny's chest. At first her mind reeled at the reminder of his touch-of the dangerously sweet pleasure she had experienced before. That was, until Julian merely pinched the top of her shirt and pulled it up, covering the part of her bra that had been exposed. Jenny realized it slowly, her face flushing all over again. When she looked back up at the Shadow Man, he merely gave her a bounce of his eyebrows, an intimidating and knowing gesture.

A part of Jenny was a bit embarrassed, but it faded quickly when her mind went straight back to the closet-when he covered her skirt. Thinking on it, they had been so carefree back then, so playful, so honest. Jenny didn't understand. Everything she knew about Shadow Man was being erased and rewritten and proved true all over again by this one demon. Even now, they were simply staring into each other's gazes in silence, illuminated by the pale beams of the lighthouse every few seconds. Jenny hadn't noticed it before, but now that it was there, roaming over them, casting them in a dull light for half a second before dropping them back into the shadows that made up this world.

It meant something to stare into someone's eyes this long, Jenny thought. What it meant, however, was completely beyond her.

"You are the strangest…most irritating person I've ever met. You know that?"

His answer-his smile-was soft in reply. "I could very well say the same to you."

He reached for her again, this time his hand coming up gently to her face. Jenny allowed him to. She probably should've refused him, but it came so gently, the faintest brush of cool fingers against her skin-making her remember all the times he had done such a thing back in the closet.

Something ached in Jenny's chest-Something so tight it actually hurt for her to breathe, and she pulled away from it. She had to take a step back, to put some distance between them, to think like a hunter again. "I-I'm assuming," she said carefully, "that I already took my prize for winning round one. And I can't exactly choose Zach until round four. So…."

She met Julian's gaze after that, seeing him process what she meant, and his smile returned yet again. She had to take a deep breath, to prepare herself before she asked, "What's in store for round two?"

"Would you like to choose?"

Jenny was shocked for only a minute before Julian motioned for the lighthouse off to the side. When Jenny turned, she saw three doors, all exactly the same, illuminated in a ghostly shadow from the light beams above. Jenny could only stare as Julian approached the doors and gave a very graceful bow. It was a very dangerous image; a Shadow Man bowing to her for the third time, offering her a choice between which road she wished to take to run between the worlds, or which demon she wished to face, which riddle she wanted to solve. A Shadow man-an old, wise evil creature-giving her the choice. Something stirred in her chest from the sight, but she swallowed it down-She _had_ to. For Zach. Not to have fun. To _save Zach_.

So she straightened her back, ignored the ache in her body, and kept her chin high. She walked tensely, as dull as possible, to the door in the middle. Julian's gave followed her the whole way, as pleased and arrogant as ever. Jenny grabbed the handle silently, but she couldn't help looking at the Shadow Man when she opened it, and smiling at the playful way he was gazing at her before she jumped through.

There was a giant gust of wind, knocking her right off her feet. She lost her breath-There was so much commotion, a cacophony of sounds, before she hit the ground again. Only she didn't exactly land. She hit something solid and rough and _round_ , rolling her right over the edge. Jenny landed in water, thankfully very shallow. It outlined her body in a disgustingly tight and filthy grip, shocking Jenny awake with a gasp. It took her mind a minute to catch up, because all she saw when she opened her eyes was green.

The thing she had collided with appeared to be a massive branch, covered in such a thick layer if moss that hardly any of the bark was shown. It was hardly the width of a car, and stretched farther than jenny could tell because they were _everywhere_. The humongous branches all intertwined and curved and hung in the air like large green tunnels of a complex plumbing system. At the very, very top was nothing but a green haze, illuminated by a bright light beyond the leaves, creating a dazzling, sparkling scenery of little floating dots much like stars on a night sky.

Jenny had to sit up to fully take it all in, the shock of the water and such vibrant colors making her a bit disoriented. She ignored the slight approach of a headache, and found a few tree trunks, just a bit bigger than their branches, spotted here and there, also covered in moss and vines and plants of all sorts. Some where extremely high up, others, like the one she landed on, extremely low to the ground, or the water. Some were completely horizontal, others in a dangerous vertical slope, but most were curved and looped in all sorts of angles and sizes and directions.

It was _gorgeous_.

She could hear the sound of running water echoing off the trees, and the sounds of a few peculiar animals that Jenny was very curious to see what they were. So she tried to stand, only to find herself in a giant pile of algae. The entire ground was nothing but water, finally making Jenny realized she was in some sort of enchanted swamp. The water was green as well, with tints of yellow and red here and there. The algae and plant life under the surface was so thick that it was practically sticking to Jenny's skin, sucking to her in a surprisingly tight grip. She got to her knees, her back disagreeing with the way she had landed, and shivering a bit at the luke-warm water running down her sides. She tried scraping the stuff off, but it was actually tougher than she thought.

That's when she heard the splash behind her.

She whirled in an instant, catching the ripples of the water a bit farther off. The water must be deeper over there, she had to guess, since she couldn't see anything under the green surface. She gave a good look around her, instincts kicking back in that she had no idea where she was or what the purpose of this round was.

And since she couldn't see under the water she was currently stuck in, then she had no way to defend herself.

So Jenny struggled harder. She tried to stand, where the algae was now gripping her legs so tight she could hardly budge. She was creating her own splashing now, trying to free herself. But the more she clawed at the algae sucking her hand into the water, the more her free hand began to stick. It was a desperate fight to keep her good hand free while trying to free the other.

Another splash.

Her instincts sparked in the back of her mind. She wasn't alone.

Jenny snapped an Egyptian rune in an instant, where there was no effect. It actually shocked her to a still point. The runes only worked against evil spirits. If she couldn't use that, then-

The chuckle made her twist her upper body to look behind her once more. Another ripple of the water, closer this time. The voice was very soft, almost wind chimes in the breeze, but distorted in a sense. It was unnerving to hear it echo back and forth between the trees, unable to tell its pinpoint.

Evil or not, she didn't want to meet it.

That's when jenny realized her hand was deeper under the water than before. The algae was literally sucking her under, dragging her down by the knees until she was almost waist-deep. She fought it immediately, trying to pull against it when it pulled _harder_. The slimy green substance actually spread out, much like fingers, and sucked her hand all the way up to the wrist, and dunked back under the water.

It was _alive_.

Jenny instantly snatched her knife from her belt, knowing the runes on the handle wouldn't do any good, but it was still a blade none the less. She began cutting at the sucking plant, being careful not to slice her own hand, but it was tough. Not like normal algae at all. This stuff moved around the sawing of the blade, continuing to drag her under, sucking up the length of her legs.

She heard it clearer then, something slicing through the water dangerously fast, with that mischievous little giggle. Jenny spared a glance over her shoulder seeing the splashing of water too close for comfort. She shouted a rune, wondering if it would do any luck. The blade was ripped form her hand.

"No! She tried to grab it back as the algae sunk the weapon under, but she pulled back in order from diving her hand right into the algae waiting for her under the surface.

Don't panic. Think.

She reached for her bag of sulfuric powder to find it packed wet from the water. She cursed under her breath and grab a bottle of something else. The glass vile was small and very old, back from when her grandfather had taught her how to make a few potions. She couldn't remember what this one was at the moment, but Jenny ripped the cork out with her teeth and dumped it into the water all the same. Instantly, the purple liquid mixed with the green and coiled, creating a sickening brown pool around her. In response, the algae constricted in place, no longer dragging her under but instead frozen, clung to her in a grip tighter than a vice.

The creature was behind her. Jenny could feel it, racing through the water at her so fast the splashing was minimal. She cut her finger in the same instant she screamed, " _Kenaz!"_

There was a terrible _whoosh_ of air and heat, then a massive ball of steam surrounded Jenny in a flash. There was a terrible inhuman shriek, ringing so bad off the trees that Jenny's ears ached to the point of screaming herself. Yet, she jerked her hand in the algae and was actually able to rip it free. The algae on her legs released her in a flash, sinking back into the water and away from her, leaving only the brown boiling liquid of the potion in the water. It was starting to itch Jenny's legs, oddly enough, but she didn't have time to worry about that. She jumped up and launched herself out of the water by hauling herself up onto the low tree branch she had fallen off of. It was hard from the smooth bark and the slick moss, especially when her hands were slimy with algae and water. But Jenny found a notch with her shoes and got herself on top. Just in time, too. Under her she heard the frantic splashing and more of the shrieking. When Jenny was finally able to see through the steam, all she saw was the scale-covered body of something small and sharp before it dove back under the water. She waited a moment, to see if the algae or even whatever the creature was could possibly climb up the branch and get her that way. When the water went still, Jenny relaxed. Well, the best she could.

She let herself catch her breath by laying on her back on the branch. She examined her hand, which wasn't hurt at all. She was soaked up to her stomach and now the wounds on her legs seemed to burn worse than before. Maybe from the potion. She wanted to ask Zach, to see if he remembered which it was or how to make it.

But she had to save him first.

The thought brought enough strength to push away the exhaustion wearing on her body and she sat up. Immediately got back on her knees and reached for her knife-Right. Shit. She lost it. And there was no way she was going back in the water. So Jenny surveyed the branch she was on, massive with numerous little sprouts and crystallized beings. She found something very similar to coral, almost like barnacles, growing on the under part of the branch where she was able to snap one off. She then used it to dig into the branch, carving through the moss and into the delicate skin of the bark. It was a bit tough at first, making Jenny's already bloody hand ache a bit more, but she finally got the three runes carved in an arch in the wood.

Something twinged in the air when she was done, making her a bit skeptical about what could be above the water. That's why jenny cut her hand more this time, squeezing out more blood into the carvings. When she said them aloud, the spell instantly set a radar off in the back of her mind, mapping out this world and everything it had. Surprisingly, Jenny saw exactly what she had already seen, all the tunnels of branches and trees criss-crossing and intertwining everywhere, but the power that surged through them was almost electrifying in a completely different sense than jenny was used to. Everything throbbed with power, the water, the air, the leaves. She saw tiny bodies in the water, little nymphs with razor sharp teeth, and even things floating in the air, things she couldn't see, that held some amount of magic. The world she was in, the branch she was on, everything here was very much alive.

Then Jenny saw what she feared-Creatures, twice her size, moving through this forest-like world. They were moving in giant blobs of power, across the branches, leaping from one to the other. And they were _fast_.

Heading in her direction.

Jenny got up in a flash, running down the branch in a heart beat. Oh but it was tricky. With her wet shoes and the slickness from the moss on the branch, she was threatened to slip and fall right back into the water at any second. Still, Jenny ran the best she could, keeping her arms out for balance as she treaded along the branch's length. Soon she came across one that crossed over the one she was on, blocking her way. She jumped onto that one, and had to physically climb the branch like a rock wall on its incline. She got to its peak, where it bent and leveled out, right as she saw a blur off in the distance.

She tried to run faster, she did, but she barely got anywhere when she lost her footing. Her shoulder hit the branch, but her quick instincts got her to grab a knot in the branch . Her legs swung off the edge, but she caught herself from sliding off the branch. Immediately she heard the movement around her, the inhuman fast steps approaching her too quickly. Jenny didn't think. She immediately tried to swing her leg up, to get herself back on the branch to keep moving, but her first attempt failed, leaving her dangling there on the side of this massive chunk of wood.

Just when she tried again, the quick paced steps of the creatures around her came to a halting stop with an abrupt _thunk_ right above her. The sharp end of a spear was the first thing she saw before she even looked up. The creature at the other end, holding the weapon under her chin, was nothing her grandfather had ever taught her about. It stood on two tall bowed legs like a man, with skin as black as death. Its head was shaped like a dear, although no nose or mouth could be seen. Its eyes came in diagonal wide slits of navy blue, and two sharp pointed ears stuck out from the side of its face. It wore a kilt of leaves and moss, and had hooves for feet, but hands of a man.

Jenny couldn't recover from the shock. She was staring, gaping like an idiot. Until five more appeared on the branches ahead of her, making Jenny remember that the one above her was just one of _numerous_.

So she let go of the branch.

She let herself fall, down a good ten feet, and forced her ankles to go weak when she landed on that branch. The pain ricocheted in her knees, but gravity smacked her down on her back, preventing any broken bones. As fast as her aching back would let her, she jumped back up and ran again. They were on her instantly, racing along the branches in impossibly fast blurs. It was a terrifyingly anxious race, trying to beat the endless bodies that came rushing upon her. They came from every direction; left, right, behind, _above_ -

One dropped right down before her, from nowhere, making Jenny skid to a stop, before she could run into the creature's outstretched spear. She didn't think, couldn't with that many footsteps running up from behind; so she turned and jumped off the branch. The next branch directly below her wasn't that far down; she should have landed with ease. That was until her foot slipped. She missed it, momentum crashing her to her side too fast for her hands to scrabble for some leverage. She inevitably rolled off the smooth edge, falling _hard_ , and landed face-first onto the next branch.

It felt like the whole world slapped her in the back of the head, pain ricocheting in her chin, to her jaw, to her temples from the impact. She didn't get the chance to even lift her head. She heard them; felt their heavy steps echoing in the wood as they surrounded her. She didn't need her instincts to tell her that she had about a dozen spears pointed at her. It took her mind a minute to recover from the flash of blinding pain ringing in her ears, but when she did, she realized she had just lost the game.

No, the round wasn't over. She just lost the upper hand. Easily could be taken back.

Jenny was just able to raise her sharpest glare to the creature directly above her when the pressure practically ripped her hair right from its roots. The hand was bigger than her head, grabbing her by the back of the skull, forcefully yanking her up. The yelp of pain was cut-off by a rune that apparently was useless because the creature still tugged her to her knees. It was so strong, stronger than Jenny could ever hope to be, that it made Jenny arch her back farther than she could handle. She felt the spasm of pain in her spine, her muscles, and for a moment the fear of it actually breaking her back sparked a level of terror in her mind-

But she couldn't fight it. Her body couldn't keep up, as well as her mind. Before she knew it, they had her arms bounded behind her back with some kind of thick vines-impossibly tight. They hauled her to her feet, which she tried to squirm, but with three of the creatures' hands on her that instantly failed. Then they were walking, forcing her to move with them. Not at their pace, thank God, but quick enough for Jenny to stumble and fall repetitively. They didn't let her go, leading her up the branch, onto the nearest one. They passed her to more creatures on the branch above them like she was a child, making her curse herself as they moved her as they pleased. They had their weapons on her constantly, giving her no room to breathe, no choice but to go where they wanted.

Jenny had never really imagined what it would be like to play in a Shadow Man's game. Her grandfather had given her exercises, tricks of the mind in order to face your fear, but those were nothing like this. He had shown her the feeling of drowning, of choking, of dying, and made her convince herself it wasn't real and get out of the tricks. Oh, those exercises were cruel, yes, because that's what Shadow Men were. Jenny had tried to imagine using those tactics in a game, if she was facing those eyes in the shadows, but those images were never like this; Not being hauled around by some mythical creature with spears digging in her back and her hands bound, unable to think of any runes to break herself free. Hell, even if she did get free, what was she supposed to do? They were _everywhere_.

Thus, Jenny pried on the other techniques her grandfather had taught her. To play smart. That's why she stopped squirming, stopped trying to break their legs or their spears. Instead, she actually **looked** at them. She studied their structure, the way they walked. Their strength was already a major factor she accepted, which destroyed any ideas of fighting them. Even so, they seemed to be marching together, all standing the same width apart from one another. They even all looked the same. And judging by their numbers, they were a very colonized species. Out smarting them was going to be tough.

One unnerving thing that Jenny noticed was that they were _talking_. Jenny hadn't realized it at first, since one of the creatures holding her had made an assortment of sounds from its non-existent mouth. It wasn't until another creature responded in a similar gibberish fashion that she realized this was their communication. They continued to click and hiss and mumble off sounds back and forth as they pushed her along, mostly sounding like raspy jumbles of words being formed from a rush of air in their throats, or something. Jenny didn't have the slightest idea how they could be talking without mouths.

Oh, but Jenny's instincts never failed her. Even as they hauled her along, holding her on the balls of her feet, Jenny was inevitably listening to their gibberish. She caught every word, desperately trying to hear its accent, its origin, if she recognized anything, if she could decipher even the slightest fact about its nature.

She didn't. She never heard such a language before. The only thing she did catch, however, was the word, "Cernunnos," They kept saying it, all of them, in every mumble. The more they said it, the more Jenny started to feel a bit comfortable with it.

 _Where have I heard that before?_ She thought.

They forced her up another branch, which she purposely slipped on, just to piss them off. The one creature that had her bicep practically threw her into the air to get her back on her feet, striking pain in her neck from the strain. They were leading her up, she noticed. The branches were bigger here, more intertwined than before. It was the center, Jenny realized, where all of the branches and plant life met.

Sure enough, as they rounded the next branch, it came into perfect view; the heart of the world. It sat in one _massive_ tree, made up of every single branch twisting together in one gigantic powerful corkscrew of wood and life and energy. Its top reached the sky-No, it _was_ the sky; the endless sea of leaves and vines creating the vast green scenery that was the sky. Every branch and tunnel came from here, twisting off like twigs compared to the trunks size. It was mesmerizing, really, how everything was intertwined together like a nature-woven net of some sort. Plants of all kinds, even flowers Jenny had never seen before, began to sprout from everywhere. Corals and mosses and leaves and straws and fruits, all lined the branches in rows of different mosses. The energy was so thick here, the _magic_ was practically palpable in the air. With the golden-green light streaming down from above, Jenny immediately knew this place was sacred.

It was also there, seeing the endless number of creatures come and kneel on every single inch of space there was in this place, that Jenny remembered that name she heard them mumbling. _Cernunnos_. He was a god-Yes, from Celtic mythology, she remembered. Her grandfather had told her a story about him. He was the horned god, of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the **underworld**. Oh, yeah, Jenny definitely remembered him now. A cruel God, she had been told, living in a tree so tall that it stretched straight down into the underworld, ruling both parts of the world in equal hatred.

And she was going to meet him.

That had to be where they were taking her to. Julian had dropped her into their world, into their territory, and now they had captured her and were bringing her to their god for punishment. Shit. _Shit_ , what was she supposed to do? She knew how to fight many things, but never a _God_. Shadow Men were just like snakes in the shadows. They were nothing compared to Gods-How was she supposed to fight one?

No, calm down. This was the game, remember? She had to pass it, find the loophole. But what if the challenge was to fight Cernunnos? There was **no way** she could win.

The fear only increased the higher they took her, the deeper into the web of wood. She was starting to see more of the creatures, more of the plant species. She could see where they were taking her, to the core of the trunk, into a beveled crevasse in the wood, like an archway. It was surrounded by sharp vines, clearly a reserved spot. There were at least five branches leading up to the area, one from every direction. The one straight up the middle, parallel to the spot, was the one Jenny was on. She couldn't see anything more before there were at least two rows of the creatures guarding the way, all with sharp weapons of some kind.

She could get out of her restraints, somehow. She knew a few good Egyptian spells she could snap really fast, but where could she could. There were these creatures _everywhere_. And everything was connected so intensely, she wouldn't get two feet before one of them had a spear through her.

She was beginning to regret choosing the middle door.

Yet, she was here. She was doing this to save Zach. She wasn't going to just give up now. So Jenny held her breath when they reached the top, the heart of the trunk, and braced herself for the Horned God. The creature that had been leading her along actually let go of her and stepped off to the side. Like the rest of the creatures, they all moved away, as if distancing themselves for safety, then knelt on one knee. The rows of guard parallel to Jenny all began to do the same, parting to the side and revealing-

" _Julian_."

The crevasse in the trunk was a throne, carved from the wood itself, outlined in a curtain of brown and green vines of different sizes. The plant life around the seat resembled some kind of red-tipped ivy, creating a beautiful yet dark scenery. Julian was seated in place like some haughty, gloating prince. He was shirtless, mind some collar of dried wood tied together around his collar, revealing such a pale, perfectly sculpted abdomen. He had some kind of black fabric wrapped tight around him waist, like some kind of dimensional pants, with a hint of a furry texture. Some kind of black tattoo covered his muscular arms, wrapping around his biceps resembling the vines around his throne, working their way around his shoulders in very intriguing swirls. Some of the green of the world around them reflected in lime streaks in his white locks, contrasting so greatly with those vivid indigo eyes. Yet, it was the set of antler horns, resting so magnificently on Julian's head, that caught Jenny's attention the most. They were tall, pale like his hair, and slightly angled out the sides.

A part of Jenny was actually relieved at his smug-ass smirk, that she was still in the game. She had to breathe out the sigh she was holding in, and said, "Having fun?"

Julian's bright blue eyes gleamed at her _dangerously_ , just like when she had him pinned under her a few minutes ago. "Oh, most certainly," he practically purred. He sat up then, those antlers of his swaying gracefully as he straightened enough and gestured his arms about him. "Welcome to the Rheims Forest."

Jenny inevitable allowed her gaze to wonder around her, actually seeing more things now that she looked at it. She recognized some birds flying above her, or maybe they were some kind of odd sprite, like the ones from the water-rats with wings, probably. She could see the glistens in the air, the power of this world drifting around her in golden sparkles. It actually tickled her skin, making the Hunter side of her shiver a bit in anxiety.

She looked back to Julian, who of course was studying her reaction exquisitely. "And I thought the Horned God was supposed to be scary."

Julian's smile only widened into that smirk that Jenny knew too well. "Careful, Jenny. It's not wise to tick off the one in charge of your punishment."

Jenny's playful smile dropped. "What?"

"You're a trespasser, Jenny." He ran his elegant fingers down the arms of his throne, making Jenny's eyes catch the smoothness of the wood. "Coming onto such sacred land. Not to mention the harm you've done."

"Oh, please," Jenny said with a roll of her eyes. "What _harm_ have I done?"

Julian shifted his weight down so he could lean an elbow on his knee, chin in his hand. He gazed down at her with heavy lashes, like she was something ravishing to eat. "You saw it yourself. Everything in this world is very much alive." He plucked a red leaf from the ivy around him, and Jenny watched the thing curl in on itself as it shriveled and crinkled into death. It was when Julian dropped the dead leaf onto his palm and blew it in Jenny's direction that she realized what he meant.

The spell. The carvings she did onto the branch-how she practically made it bleed. And the water, the potion she poured in and harmed the algae. That's why Julian sent the creatures after her. She was a criminal. _That_ was the game.

Jenny could only pout, making the Shadow Man smirk at her. "You threatened the life of my world," he continued. "It's only fair you pay your share of punishment."

Jenny almost laughed. "Your world? You don't _own_ anything except the cold of the shadows. Now take these off me so I can beat you." She twisted to emphasize the vines around her wrists, but Julian remained in his seat, smirk unchanged.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Unless you were to ask me _nicely_."

" _Ankh_."

The power struck Julian before he could even counter it. It came like a punch to the cheek, making his head turn from the impact. The creatures were on Jenny in a flash, spears at her neck, pinching her skin, just on the verge of slitting her throat. But Jenny, ever the Hunter, didn't even flinch. Her body tensed out of reflex, but still she held Julian's gaze, holding her firm composure until he looked back at her, rubbing his jaw with such a vile smile.

Jenny smiled back.

It was exactly like the closet. The games, the playful nature. The toss of dominance and control back and forth. It made something in Jenny relax and tense at the same time. She was dropping her guard, when she knew she shouldn't.

Julian laughed, and Jenny immediately recognized it. It was the exact same laugh she heard years ago, after Jenny had dragged him off the cliff into the Leviathan's cavern; such an honest, surprised laugh. The creatures pulled away with that, leaving Jenny back in the center branch alone. One however, stayed long enough to cut off her restraints. Feeling the vines drop from her wrists actually surprised Jenny, that Julian actually did release her.

The imitation of a God stood up in the process, antlers swaying above him as he dropped down to Jenny's level. Before Jenny could even think about an attack or defense, Julian flicked his wrist and something swooped down just above her head.

Three odd beings hovered over her, much like silky smooth serpents with dragonfly-style wings. They were all a baby blue hue, using team work to carry something between the three of their mouths. To Jenny it looked like nothing more than a band of yellow sticks. Their tails curled and uncurled in a working motion as they slowly lowered together, layering the thing just over Jenny's head. Her hunter side was about to fight them off, wary about their actions, but her human side actually calmed herself to a still point, allowing the creatures to slip the thing over her head. It fell over her like a heavy necklace, resting across her breastbone with just enough weight to notice. It was only there that Jenny realized the collar was tinted with gold, designed like some crazy twisting vines, tiny bejeweled flowers here and there, colored in specks of emeralds. It was gorgeous, really. Jenny actually had to touch the thing to believe it really was there, around her neck, before she looked back to Julian. He was closer to her, just out of arm's reach, standing so appropriately with his arms behind his back.

"Did you know what Torcs were used for," he asked smoothly, "back in the Dark Ages?"

Jenny took a second to process that; one, that the thing he had just given her was called a torc, and two, that it had a special meaning Jenny had never even considered. Her mind had begun to grow a bit more curious than it should have, about this realm, about its culture and power, about why her grandfather had never bothered to teach her more about it.

So she shook her head, silently. He answered, "They resembled royalty."

He took a step closer to her, and it was done with such a slow precision that Jenny very easily could have stopped him or moved away or done anything at all except allow him to invade her space. He then reached up and ran a single finger down the cool metal frame, just brushing her skin as he did. "Only those of high rank were allowed to wear them. Others saw them as idols. Untouchable. But for women-"

He pinched the center then, and Jenny felt-not saw because she was hopelessly stuck in those crystal blue pools-the torc come apart at his touch. It separated, almost like a giant crack, so that the space rested just above the hollow base of Jenny's throat. Somehow, it was more of a salacious move than threatening.

"It was a sign of irrefutable beauty."

Oh.

Jenny felt the heat rise in her cheeks, but she didn't know how to stop it. She could only stand there, under his predator gaze, mind racing with all the runes she could have used to make him back off.

"Also," Julian added after a moment, with the darkest of smiles, "they're near impossible to take off."

That's when Jenny understood. He used his flattery as a disguise for the fact that he basically just collared her like a pet, like he _owned_ her.

But he hadn't won the game yet.

So Jenny smiled. "Is this my punishment?"

He shrugged. "Could be. It's only appropriate for a God to mark what is his."

Jenny felt like she was struck with lightening. She was shocked from that, she really was, and yet the words were coming out of her mouth so easily. "But you see, there's the thing. You're not a God. And I'm _not_ yours."

Instead of trying to fight the necklace, Jenny touched it and said, " _Gebo_ ," where the metal instantly shattered. It fell from her body in dangerous golden splinters, which Jenny brushed off as nothing more than dust.

Julian's smile, however, didn't change. "Yes, you are. You've been mine since I've first laid eyes on you. You're the first, you know."

Jenny was about to say something witty to disregard that when the realization hit her. Julian was her first Shadow Man-Her _only_ Shadow man she'd ever faced, actually. She was pretty positive that she was the first human he had ever saved, as well.

That wasn't right. The anxiety settled in her too fast, worrying her hunter instincts. Her grandfather said to never make deals, never to play the games by the rules they laid out, because they always had loopholes. If they made the rules, then they won. Hunters had to cheat, to trick the masters of tricks, in order to win-to live. Always on your toes.

Jenny wasn't. She wasn't doing _any_ of that. She was doing the complete opposite of everything her grandfather taught her. She wasn't alert; she was comfortable.

Julian started to say something else, turning his head to motion for something off to the side, and the sway of his antlers was like a trigger for Jenny. She snatched them in a fierce yank down, where she brought her knee up in the same motion, nailing Julian in the gut before he could react. She followed with a shove and a rune, knocking him into the creatures that stood the closest at the side. Then she ran right at the makeshift throne, leaped onto its seat, and jumped off one of its arms. She caught herself on the curtain of vines behind it, and used it as guide as her body dropped.

She rode the thick vine like a pole in a fire station, letting her weight drag her down, down, down, passed all the branches the creatures had just taken her up. The vines ended, however, much sooner than Jenny had hoped. So she dropped herself onto the closest branch, already seeing the blurs closing in on her from all over. But Jenny ran anyway, even though she knew it was inevitable in the end. If Julian wanted to win this round, he was going to have capture her again. And again. And again.

She barely got down that massive branch when three creatures dropped down in front of her, but Jenny was prepared this time. She said the last of the chant just as they landed, which sparked a terrible cloud of energy in their faces. It seemed to react badly with whatever they were because the creatures all halted and let out a terrible shriek. Jenny used her momentum to slide herself between their thick muscular legs. She didn't stop to steal one of their weapons like she should've. She just kept running, hoping for an exit, a break in the chaos for her to set a ell-made trap or _something_.

Yet, she realized with a small amount of fear that the probability was just as slim as her escape because the branch she was on had begun to grown thinner. It ended, just up ahead, growing smaller and smaller until it sprouted into a mass of twigs and mosses. Jenny slowed to look for the next nearest branch, while the thudding footsteps approached her ever so quickly, only to realize this branch was alone. She wasn't anywhere near jumping distance to any of the other branches, and the closest branch under her was least a good thirty feet, if she could land on it at all. There were no openings. No chances.

She heard the weight of a creature land just behind her, probably swinging for her, ready to knock her down. Jenny pivoted to face him, twisting her body to avoid the attack, and slipped.

Just like that. She fell faster than anything ever possible in the world-Dropped like a dead weight. Passed all the branches. Passed all the creatures. The world flew by her so fast that she actually blinked and missed it.

Jenny didn't remember hitting the water. She was falling through the air, now sinking terribly slow. All strength was gone. Even the feeling in her limbs had dissipated to almost nothing. Her mind half expected to hit algae, to be sucked under and drowned, or maybe attacked by those little water nymphs. But there was nothing. Jenny tried to fight, to swim, but her body didn't listen to her. She felt tired. Cold.

No, open your eyes. Get up!

But she couldn't. It was too dark to see anything anyway. She was already taking in water. Just like four years ago, her mind went into a spiraling panic on the lack of air, but she couldn't even squirm. She only floated there, sinking, drowning.

She was going to die.

Jenny barely felt the pressure around her waist. It felt like a ghostly touch from the currents drifting around her body, rippling the water around her. But it tightened, striking a bit of pain.

Then she was breathing. Air, sweet crisp air. But it didn't matter now. She was lying down on something hard, she could tell, her body drenched and so very heavy. She desperately tried to reach up, to grab something, to pick herself up, but she felt her hand fall limp on her stomach as a result.

Inside she was screaming. How stupid she was. Here she was, dying, because of a Shadow Man. He finally did it. She was helpless. She was stupid. Agreeing to play his game. Now Zach was forever stuck here. She was going to die, never to return to home, her family, Tom-

Oh, Tom.

Something moved above her. Something massive enough to send her instincts in a kicking fight. But she could barely open her eyes. She felt the dark pull of death-just behind her eyes. Like falling asleep, it was dragging her under, shadows threatening everything. She was falling, too quickly. Her head was rolling to its side, eyes fluttering. She saw it; its outline in a dangerous silhouette above her. The round head with spikes at the top and the bottom and the two thin vine-like tentacles on either side of its mouth made her memories flash at her-of swimming down into the caverns to touch the monster-before it attacked her-before she almost drowned.

Now she was under the monster, hearing its hiss invade her mind like white noise. She couldn't feel anything anymore. Just the exhaustion on her body, dragging her under her line of consciousness whether she liked it or not. She was going to pass out before she died, unless the Leviathan ate her first.

…-

Jenny woke up. She actually woke up. She felt her breathing coming in slow and steady. Her lungs were burning with a fresh crispness. Her toes tingled with a new kind of heat. Her head throbbed so painfully that she groaned, her throat aching from her own voice. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to open her eyes, to see where she was-Heaven, Hel, one of the tortuous nine realms to spend an eternity of pain and suffering-

But she wasn't in much pain. Not anymore. Besides her head ache, the rest of her was…comfortable. She was crouched on her side, half sitting up, leaning against something very warm and soft. Even the ground under her was soft, reminding her of the pleasant comforter of her grandfather's bed.

Wait….

The touch came gently, followed by a soft hushed voice. The fingers were in her hair, gently brushing the strays out of her face so lightly it was almost like a breeze, comforting, delicate. Jenny finally recognized the weight around her waist-the arm, supporting her so easily. She didn't need to open her eyes to know where she was, but she _couldn't_ be-

So she looked to find herself surrounded by the homey log cabin scenery she had once seen before. The sweet smell of pine and smoke lingering in the air. The crackling of a fire nearby giving such a gentle, warm atmosphere. She was on the same bed, in the same position, with Julian. He was holding her, her head on his shoulder, fingers in her hair, shushing her as she came around.

"You passed out again, love," his voice filled her ears like white noise-so hushed. So gentle. "I caught you, as always."

Instantly Jenny's mind spun so fast she actually got dizzy, having to close her eyes again. The walls of her mind ached in an intangible way as she tried to sort things out.

Wait, hold on. Was she dreaming? Hell no, not from the tingle Julian's touch left behind. But she was dying-The water-The Leviathan-

Julian had….saved her. He must have unless she had died and this was Heaven-No, hell. Yet, her instincts were alive. She had passed out after hitting the water. He _caught_ her.

She didn't believe it. She needed to get up. The hunter side of her was arguing, almost begging her to wake up, to find Zach, to go home-

But her other half was stronger. The part that had kissed him earlier-The part that liked the fights, the games, was relieved so much that she felt her body relax in response. She was really here, where she had last been after all those years-before she had been ripped away. To be reunited with it was almost too sweet for Jenny to handle. Her throat ached again, this time from choking back tears.

She kept her eyes closed. She had to. She couldn't let the Shadow Man see the sliver of happiness from being here again-that he had saved her again-he didn't lie; he didn't want her dead. But she was sure he had already seen it-he saw everything.

Thankfully, he didn't say a word. He continued to hold her like that, stroking through her hair so gently. Jenny was easily lost in the sensation. With the warmth and the smell and the fire, her mind threatened to fall back asleep, but she couldn't. She didn't want to fall asleep because then it would change. She'd wake up somewhere else-back in the game-or even the hospital-

Julian must've sense the panic rising in her because he shushed her again, softer this time, with a gentle hand on her head. "Relax, love. You're here," his voice came in soft, velvet whispers above her. "You're not dreaming."

Oh that hurt. Jenny's heart actually throbbed at the sensation, as something tight made its way into her chest, right between her lungs, squeezing so hard that neither side of her knew how to handle it. As a result she curled into herself, against Julian's side, burying her face in his silky shirt, breathing in his crisp scent. He reminded Jenny of starlight and water leeks, such a fresh, dazzling scent that sent her mind in various places-in all the places he used to show her as a child.

She should get up, but it was impossible. This place-This moment was as other-worldly as a dream. The air felt light and warm, the bed so soft under her, and Julian's embrace-Jenny had missed it; to be cradled in his arms like this. She had wanted to wake up to this after Zach had pulled her out, like it was all some crazy nightmare.

Her hunter side started to feel guilty the longer she laid there. She was wasting time. Although time here was probably non-existent, time on Earth was still moving. Her friends had probably noticed she was missing now, parents getting worried. And every second she wasted here, God knows what Zach was going through. She needed to get up, back in the game.

But then Julian was shifting, just slightly, and his lips came in a soft brush on her forehead. "You're so _frail_ ," he muttered against her skin in a heated whisper. His voice was different-so _raw_ -that it muddled Jenny to a still point. "And yet, you don't even shatter…."

Jenny didn't know how to feel about that. She didn't _want_ to. She couldn't-Not now. Not _ever_.

She finally swallowed something down, bringing her voice back, but _God_ what was she supposed to say? "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

She felt Julian smile against her forehead before he pulled away, moving back as they were before. "Did it upset you?"

"You're confusing." Jenny finally opened her eyes again and let them swoop over their room which only resulted in a pounding ache in her temples. She couldn't get her legs to move. She felt glued there, curled against his side, feeling his broad muscles through his shirt. She didn't dare to lift her head either. She was close enough to the Shadow Man already. If he tried to kiss her now- "Is-Is this round three?"

"No, this is my prize."

Jenny flinched.

No. No nonononono-This wasn't right. If anything, if she lost round two, then she should've woken up in the midst of round three, of some twisted game with a hidden motive, a puzzle she had to solve-Not this. She was supposed to be comforted. He wasn't supposed to catch her.

So Jenny jumped up. Quickly, she tried to leap from the bed, out of this demon's arms, away from him-to _fight_ him-like she was supposed to. However, she hardly got herself away from the Prince of Shadows when the pain hit her in the head like a sledgehammer. She dropped in the same instant she had moved, landing back in the Shadow Man's lap, cradling her temples.

Julian had caught her effortlessly, aiding her in keeping her head up with a hand under her jaw. The pressure congested in her mind, filling up every space and nook and cranny inside her head until it was pushing through her muscles, her nerves, to her skin. She felt like it was going to explode, the pain building into an increasing burn up the back of her neck, to her skull, to an old hidden scar-

"Easy," Julian's voice came to her like a splash of cold water first thing in the morning. "Seems its still too delicate."

Jenny heard him-how could she not when his elemental voice was practically purring in her ear-but the pain erased the words in her mind, striking more heat like a hot iron to the back of her skull. She bit back her whimper and tried to cradle the wound, where Julian's hand already was. His touch was cold compared to her skin-Jesus, she hadn't even noticed how bad she was sweating.

"I've healed it somewhat," Julian added carefully, as if speaking too loudly would be the last straw and split Jenny's mind right in two. "But it is….complex. It's not so simple to fix."

Now _that_ stayed with Jenny. The words burned passed the pain in her head, like an icicle through an inferno, a striking cold burn that went right through her. She was able to lift her head just enough to meet his eyes, where he was studying her very carefully. Jenny wanted to say she remembered that content look in his eyes, but it was hard to think straight when her brain felt like it was melting.

"W-What?"

Those sapphire eyes searched through her "Your wound," he said simply as if surprised she didn't know what he was talking about. "It's like a tear in your mind. And it is still very fragile." Then his fingers were in her hair, brushing the stray bangs out of her face in a touch as soft as a cat's paw. "Although physically healed, the damage resides in an intangible part of you. The very same part that allowed me to pull your soul to safety. Since that day, it's still barely healed."

Jenny could only stare at him as she desperately tried to will away the pain banging against the walls of her mind like flaming wrecking balls. The confusion must've been obvious because Julian's gaze tightened on her, as if offended. "I swore to protect you from harm in any form, in any dimension."

"But… _why_?" It was hard to speak when the pain was so intense, causing the question to come out as a whisper. "Eve-Even after all these years, I-I still don't understand…."

"You still don't believe me." There was a moment where Julian wasn't really looking at her. His gaze was still on her, but he seemed to be looking somewhere else, seeing something Jenny couldn't see. "That I don't want you dead…."

"How can I?" Jenny heard herself ask through numb lips. "You're…."

She had lost what she was going to say in the next pulse of heat in her temples, but Julian picked it right back up. "Just a Shadow Man? Just another demon to exorcise?"

"Yes. No-Wait." The pain was mixing into her thoughts, jumbling them about, burning the words before they could form right. She shut her eyes in an attempt at regaining her thoughts, but Julian was there, inches from her face, the heat of his breath instantly forcing Jenny to open her eyes again.

"Have you ever wondered, Jenny? How no other Shadow Man has attacked you? That no spirit, no demon has ever dared to cross your path even though you were injured?"

His voice trailed off slowly, letting the assumption hang in the air, just beyond Jenny's reach. She had to dig through the pain, through the mess that was her mind, until she realized what he was saying, and her stomach sank.

"I was protecting you, love. As I swore," he clarified in a voice smoother than marble, all while those deep cobalt eyes were Jenny's only anchor to staying conscious. "So many things tried to hurt you. They could have easily pushed you over the edge without you knowing." Then his face changed, just the slightest, as he once again was looking at something beyond Jenny, something she couldn't see. "But I stopped them. All of them. I didn't let anything touch you. Ever since I broke out of that wretched closet, I watched you-Your wound. To make sure…."

Then he was touching her, fingers back in her hair, running down the back of her neck, feeling the intangible wound under her skin-her mind. How delicate it still was. How much worse it had been in the closet, but not now. Here, in this place, with his full strength, Julian was able to fully tap into that wound, to see its fine-lining, and try to repair it. He had figured after four dormant years on Earth, it would have subsided enough to be simple to repair, but he had miscalculated. The wound was still very much there, and its exceeding limit had unfortunately shrunken.

That realization made something hot and ugly coil in his gut; At the fact that here he was, with her to himself, in his world and all his doing, and he still couldn't fix it. Not entirely. Even now she was in pain, trying to ignore it like her precious guardian had taught her-Oh, she was so strong, even so much as to order him around as she did, and still she was so frail to his touch….

"It is the _only_ reason I did not take you back right away….."

The flicker of surprise in her eyes was enough to make the atmosphere completely shift. A look of contentment came over the Shadow Man's face, as if her confusion didn't make any sense.

"I wanted you," he added in a voice even softer than before, fingers still in her hair. "I wanted to take you back the second I was released. But…." His touch lingered on the back of her neck, inevitably tracing the hidden scar. "It would have destroyed you…. I had to let you alone-to heal."

It took Jenny a minute to understand, and when she did everything made sense, and her blood ran hot and cold.

Her injury from the blast that had threatened to kill her, the one Julian saved her from; It was complex. It had taken so long to heal. That's why Julian didn't come for her. That's why he only came in her dreams, because if he tried to bring her to the Shadow World so soon, her mind could have very well split in two.

Oh, God, Zach knew. He must have. That's why he refused the hunting ways. He didn't want her to kill herself. He was protecting her. _Again_. That's why he burned down the house, to stop her in every way from continuing to reopen the wound.

By the time Jenny realized she was crying, it was too late. She looked away in a flash, covering her mouth and blinking away the tears, but Julian coaxed her head back with a single finger under her chin. He was shushing her again, so softly-Jenny understood how that voice could lure someone to their deaths. It was so comforting, so reassuring.

Of course it was. He was perfect. He was the spitting image of seduction and passion and cruelty and darkness all in one. He _lived_ to trick people. He lived to kill. He was a demon.

And Jenny was a hunter.

But she didn't feel like a hunter now. She felt out of herself in this place-out of her mind. Crazy-He was driving her crazy.

When Jenny finally got her breath back, she asked in gasping stutters, "Wh-What ar-are you _doing_?"

The pause made her look up, even as the tears still streamed down her cheeks, she met his gaze. He was looking at her-his eyes never left her-but his expression had changed. Like disturbed still water, it made Jenny sit up, to pull herself away enough to breathe, even though her head was weighing her down like a ton.

A bewildered look crossed Julian's face for a moment, eyebrows pinching together, reminding Jenny of his surprise when he was explaining her unconsciousness back in the closet. He opened his mouth, as if to explain further, then he shut it. He actually turned his head away from her now, but Jenny was the one to turn him back again, his skin as smooth as marble under her fingers. It was madness-This moment. How close they were-What they were talking about. He was supposed to be evil. She was supposed to be sealing him away somewhere, harvesting his powers or _something._ Not on his lap-Not talking about how he saved her, or more so _why_. The last of her tears fell when he met her eyes again, where they stared for a very long moment, settling inside each other's gazes like a safety net.

Before Jenny could ask it again, the Shadow Man was on his feet, across the room, away from her. His back faced to her now, outlined by the fire in a flickering glow of orange, with the shadows dancing at his will.

"You _do_ something to me," he was stressing tightly. "I told you-I want you. I've always wanted you. I'm a Shadow man, Jenny. I don't need an explanation, or a _reason_. I take what I want."

"But you didn't take me," Jenny heard herself say it, but it didn't sound like her. She was basically whispering, pretty words on her tongue. "Because if you did….I would've died."

The silence was maddening. Neither of them spoke nor moved from their spots. Time was non-existent. Just like in the closet, the moments they shared were everlasting.

And that's what brought the pain back to Jenny's chest. It filled her lungs like a disease, swelling her chest, constricting to the point of pain, until it was throbbing with each painful beat of her heart. "You don't want me dead," she was saying, breathlessly, and it was between her gasps for breath that she realized she was back on the verge of tears once more. "From day one, you-you've saved me. I-I don't understand. Why would you save me if you don't want me-"

"I love you." Julian whipped around as he said that, and the firelight cloaked the entire front of him in shadows, making those blue circles like piercing cobalt. He had said it so abruptly, so _real_ , that Jenny didn't even get the chance to process it. "Does it honestly shock you? For _something like me_ to become infatuated with the one girl in all the nine worlds who knows how to kill him?"

Oh, Jenny knew that. They already talked about this. How different they were-How connected they were. He had already told her this, but Jenny hadn't actually _listened_. She wasn't supposed to listen to him. That's how her grandfather trained her; you couldn't listen to them because they would tell you exactly what you wanted to hear to make you feel safe or scared or whatever they wanted you to feel.

But he never prepared her for this-To feel like _this_.

It hurt too much. Jenny had to look away from him, biting her lip when she felt a sob breaking through. She didn't want to cry anymore. She told herself she wouldn't-Not in front of this demon. But he had seen half of her already, more of her than Jenny knew herself.

Perhaps the fire had gotten bigger because the lights flickered, and the room was instantly twice as hot.

"Like any of that matters now," Julian's voice came back to her, but nothing like before. No, it was normal. Elemental, and _cold._ "I've already tied the game with you, Jenny. And I have full intentions on winning the next round."

Jenny looked back to him but her attempt at a glare failed immediately once she was what Julian was holding. Still illuminated by the flames behind him, he now stood tall, proudly, with the large leather-bound book in his hand. He was even holding it up slightly, as if showing it off, letting the firelight catch it, exposing it.

One of her grandfather's journals-Right there-Whole, unburned. Jenny swung her legs over the edge of the bed in a flash, but the weight was heavy in the back of her head, like a burning brick, refused her from jumping up just yet. She couldn't stop staring at it. "What….How did you get that?"

Julian was smiling at her again-Just like when they were reunited for the first time-and it was _vile_. It instantly put Jenny back on her toes. Any softness or compassion was gone in a flash, putting them back as Hunter and Demon, once more. And it infuriated Jenny, his mood swings. "Oh, Jenny have you forgotten? I can make anything. But this, I took personally. Right after your precious _cousin_ let me out." With an elegant forefinger and thumb, he flicked the strap open then let the book fall open, thumbing through some of the pages. "Although I must say….Your grandfather was a real fool-"

"Shut up." Jenny was on her feet now. She ignored the pain, the way the room spun. She got to her feet, forcing her weak knees to hold her up before him. She must've shocked the Shadow Man because Julian's gaze was on her in a flash, wild, intrigued. "Shut up, right now. You don't get to speak about him-"

"You forget who it was that locked me up for all those years, _Jenny_." he snapped back just as fast, slapping the book closed with a single hand. "I have every right to spite him-And he got what he deserved."

"He died in front of me!" Jenny shouted back, and she saw the shadows of their room flicker. "Because of _you_ and your goddamn Ancestors! You killed him-"

"I did no such thing. If you don't remember, love, I was preoccupied with something else."

Jenny felt the sting, of how he gave up his freedom for her, to save her, but she swallowed it down. She wasn't going to be guilt-tripped by this demon of trickery.

Julian pivoted before she could respond, waving the book in the air for a moment, saying, "It's not my fault, Jenny. We didn't force him to meddle with Dark Magic. We didn't _make_ him stumble upon us, or our power. It was his own fault. He brought it upon himself….And you."

Jenny saw it coming, but she knew she couldn't stop it. Julian let his arm swing down, dropping the journal right into the fire. The flames engulfed it quickly, scorching away the pages, her lessons, her life.

She wanted to scream-She wanted to fight him, but she didn't. She didn't even move from her spot because now this feeling had her grounded. This unbearable, burning sensation in her chest, was warning her, telling her that she felt for this Shadow Man more than a Hunter should. He had acted so differently, like before in the closet, how _raw_ he was when he told her the truth, how quickly he retorted after saving her. Jenny remembered the soft press of his lips on her head, shushing her fear just minutes ago. Now here he was, burning something he knew was precious to her, as retort, to push it away-to push _her_ away.

The tears were there, but Jenny had to let them fall. She couldn't take it anymore. "For a demon of cruelty and tricks," she said sternly, not letting the tears put tremors in her voice, "I never knew you could be such a coward."

She saw it, the flicker of pure fury in the Shadow man's face, and like always, Jenny didn't back away from it. Instead, she took a step closer, before he could retort or attack her, and snapped, "Do you think I don't see what you're doing? How you'll be kind one minute, then a complete bastard the next-"

"I'm a Shadow Man, Jenny," he interrupted her fast, coming up to her so quickly that she stiffened. "I **am** cruelty. I break the rules. However I want."

"You _wanted_ to save me," she spat harshly. "You couldn't let me die, and that bothers you, doesn't it? You did something nice, and then you shoved it away-You scared me to hide the fact that you cared about me. Because you didn't understand it, did you? You just did it now, and then you-you burn that book just to piss me off, so I wouldn't notice. But I _did_."

Somewhere along her rant, Julian's face changed, like a spark, and he moved away from her. But Jenny turned the tables, and started advancing on him, making him the one to back-peddle away from her. "You told me once that you see things-Well I see things, too. As a Hunter, I look for the weaknesses in everything, to learn how to kill it, like you said. And I see _your_ weakness, Julian, whether you like it or not-"

Julian stopped then, allowing her to invade his space, so that he ended up towering over her, shadows as his background, dominating her quickly with his sharp gaze. "You don't want to make me angry, Jenny."

Surprisingly, a laugh broke from Jenny's throat. She heard the threat, and she felt it well, but she also felt the tears still burning her eyes. The painful sensation of what they last had in this room, that gentle, passionate relationship, and what it had now become-To this. Wanting what they couldn't have, pushing it away when it was right in their hands. It was too much. Jenny stumbled away from him, shaking her head, the laugh broken and weak.

"Or what? Are you going to kill me?"

Something flinched in his gaze. She saw the fury-the white-hot fury that only a Shadow Man could have, and the unmistakable sharp pain hiding in the shadows within it. But he didn't respond.

"Then _kill_ me!" Jenny threw up her arms, shouting, "Do it! Kill me-I give you permission! You can keep Zach-Throw me into Hel if you want! Just **stop** with this goddamn game."

Jenny saw his wince, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. But Julian actually _couldn't_ answer. He stared at her, at her defiance, her strength that was challenging him in the harshest way yet-

And he….couldn't win.

He didn't even move from his spot. With just a mere few inches apart from each other, this Shadow Man and his Hunter stared at each other in equal strength, and weaknesses, unable to win the game.

And how painful it was to be staring it in the face, unable to do anything about it.

Eventually Jenny dropped her arms, that tightening in her chest only increasing and sinking to her gut. " _I'm_ your weakness," she said, and it came out quietly, on a skeptical exhale.

Julian finally looked away, and Jenny noticed his hands-balled into fists at his sides. There was a pause, where the exhaustion finally set in, and Jenny gave up. Whatever outcome she was hoping for, to regain that passionate companionship they once had, merely slipped through her fingers. Who was she kidding? They couldn't be friends. They couldn't _lovers._ It was fate, destiny, the _rules._ Even if they tried, with both of their sincerity and strength, everything in all the nine worlds would go against them. And that realization _hurt_ like nothing Jenny ever felt before.

Her grandfather hadn't trained her for this. He trained her….to fight. She knew how to fight. And Julian knew how to trick and deceive. They were lingering in a world, in a moment that existed out of both of their areas of expertise. It was like on an out of control cart, no longer having the reigns, flying down the steep slope in the dark. Utterly terrifying.

So Jenny looked away too. She wiped her eyes dry, and spoke with her gaze on the floor. "Just…take me to round three."

"No."

Shocked rocked Jenny enough to look back up where the Shadow Man was basking in the shadows, looking as he should. He wore them like a cloak, the firelight practically gone, leaving the only light coming from his gaze, which were as piercing as icicles.

"You gave me permission, Jenny. So I'm changing the game-"

"No."

" _Yes_." Then he was approaching her, carefully-No, he was nearly stalking her, dominating with his words alone. Much like before, when he terrified her back in the closet, only slower. "You see, Jenny, I don't have to give him back. I can twist the rules any way I want. I could _kill_ him, right now, unless you stay here with me. You asked me to-We don't have to play this game anymore."

The fear spiked in Jenny's heart immediately, causing her to fall a step back when he reentered her space. She tried to sound strong, determined, like she did earlier. "You _won't_ do that."

"Don't test me, Jenny."

"You can't!" She snapped. "You swore not to hurt me in any way-And hurting him, hurts me."

Julian actually groaned, as his shoulders tensed so quickly, and Jenny saw the walls of their dark room actually flicker. It was there, in the way that Julian actually bit back something, in how he turned away from her in pure frustration as he ran a ran through those white locks, that Jenny realized he had been about to attack her. He _should_ have. A pissed off Shadow Man-He should've hit her, choked her with shadows, made her hallucinate her worst fear. And it was the fact that he restrained himself, that he actually chose to turn away from her, that made everything Jenny knew-everything she lived by-drain into nothing.

In a flash, Julian's perfect image shattered, his control gone. "You will never understand how far you _push_ me," he practically growled, then his voice just broke, like a taut chord snapping, unleashing hell. "I wanted to kill him the _moment_ I was free! How he took you away from me-He ruined _everything._ And that stupid boy; When he touched you, I wanted to mutilate him-Skin him _alive_ -But I didn't-I didn't because you would've died. That's what I meant, Jenny, about you being so frail. I could shatter you _so easily_ and yet you still stand against me like this without so much as a crack." He turned on her, too quickly for Jenny to handle, and added harshly, "I am cruel, Jenny. I am **Fear** itself. I kill _relentlessly_ on an hourly basis. Don't make me prove it to you."

The hurt swelled up so bad-Jenny hated it. She hated this. Because as much as she wanted to be angry-As much as she wanted to fight him-to hit him with runes and spells and seals until she forced him to give Zach back-She couldn't. She already knew, and she hated it. Hated how this turned out. Once more, the tears threatened to spill out.

"I believe you," she said carefully. She stood there, parallel to him, with her back straight and her hands at her sides. Through numb lips, the words spilled out, "A kind person, a human, would have come to me in person. He would've told me he was alive-Not let me worry over him when I know I shouldn't. He would've invited me to this. He wouldn't have waited four years, and taken my cousin as collateral to _make_ me stay-Of course you're **cruel**."

Jenny couldn't stand the look on his face now, the shock, the wide bright eyes. She looked away, tears burning her eyes, forcing her to close them. "You haven't made this easy-From day one, you've lied and tricked and-and you make me _hate_ myself. You make me want this when I should be-be trying to kill you! But then you do this-You tell me you love me then force me-I-I don't know what's what anymore-" She felt Julian coming toward her, approaching her fast, and she whipped out her blade so fast she missed it herself. "Don't!" She opened her eyes, but she still couldn't look at him. She looked at the cold, now colorless ground, trying to think-trying to _breathe_. Her head pounded. Her mind raced. "Don't touch me-I can't think when you do. You-You- **God** why didn't you just kill me? Why did you do this? I-I was supposed to fight you. We shouldn't have talked at all. I should've ignored you-"

"But you _didn't_."

He spoke so firmly from so close that Jenny couldn't help but look up. Julian took the last few steps, erasing the distance between them. Before Jenny could even react, he grabbed her blade directly, slicing right through his hand, inducing blood and a terrible hiss so fast that Jenny couldn't believe it. Then he shoved the blade right against his chest, where a heart should be. Inevitably, Jenny's hand tried to jerk away, but Julian held it there, forced her to, as if she was about to stab him in the chest.

"Have you asked yourself, Jenny? Why didn't you seal me down the second I started talking to you? Why didn't _you_ try and kill me? You can't-Not completely. You know how to reduce me to nothing, and from day one you haven't even tried."

Jenny felt like she had been hit with a bulldozer, so sharp, so fast-she couldn't comprehend. Then Julian pulled the knife away from Jenny's grip too easily, and tossed it away, finally breaking the barrier between them. Jenny didn't know how to react, what to do-So she snapped a rune. It hit Julian, she saw, but he grabbed her anyway. So simply, with his bare hands, he grabbed her. No tricks. No shadows. She fought him, tried to squirm away merely by moving. No spells. No runes. But she felt the blood from his palm, much like the scars on her own, and she just _couldn't_ -

"We're supposed to kill each other," Julian said toughly as he forced her to a still point. "By the **rules** of a Hunter and a Shadow Man. But remember what I said, Jenny?"

He grabbed her hands now, placing one on his chest and intertwining the other with his bloody one. Their scars touched, making everything Jenny was completely unravel within seconds. She was still crying. Her head still hurt. She was going to pass out. God, she wished she could.

But Julian lifted her head, meeting her unbearable gaze with equal amounts of pain and confusion.

"I break the rules."

Oh.

He whisked Jenny off her feet in the next second, kissing her intensely, deeply. Jenny had to catch herself on his shoulders as her feet dangled at his shins. This kiss was different. There were no sparks, no starlight or pleasure. Just the warmth of Julian's mouth on hers, of his crisp scent filling her mind, his flavor numbing Jenny's tongue. She felt him- _Him_ , as he truly is. Not the tricks, not the seduction. Julian.

And he felt her. He had her, inside and out, muddled and yet perfectly clear. Jenny was kissing him back, clinging to his face, giving him all of her weight-all that she was. She kissed him with a deep sense of desperation, that if he didn't catch her that she really would fall into death's hold-And Julian responded fluidly. He always did. He caught her with this kiss, and he clung to her tighter than she did to him.

He set her back down the moment the kiss ended, but their lips stayed touching, speaking heatedly against the other.

"Quit the game," he was saying, quickly, his voice hot enough to melt Jenny's common sense. "Stay with me."

It was stirring, dizzying, but Jenny caught herself the best she could. "I can't."

"Stop fighting it. Stop fighting me. Come back." Jenny started to argue again, but he cut her off, proposing, "I'll give him back. Trade places with him, Jenny. Be mine again."

There very well could have been a desperate _"Please"_ at the end of that judging by his voice, but Shadow Men didn't beg. Instead, the word was expressed by his hand on her face, cupping it, tilting it back to him when she tried to pull away.

"I can't," Jenny was mumbling over and over. "I can't. He wouldn't let me stay here. He'd come for me. Like last time-"

"I won't let him." Julian punctuated that with both hands around her waist, pressing her tight against him. His voice was firmer now, back to just moments ago when he was taunting her. "Nothing's going to take you away from me again."

Oh, it was truly madness. He wasn't supposed to say things like that. He wasn't supposed to save her and promise her the world. Jenny wasn't supposed to want it.

She couldn't break free, she knew she couldn't. So she bowed her head, closed her eyes, and bit her lip. She didn't want to say it, she really didn't want to, but she had to.

"I can't leave Earth," she finally admitted in a weak whisper against his neck. "My friends-My parents-They need me as much as I need them."

Julian responded with the same weak whisper, right into her. " _I_ need you as much as you need me."

Jenny had to actually cover her mouth to stifle whatever pitiful noise was coming up her throat. She couldn't. But Julian was trying to lift her head, kissing away the tears that were staining her cheeks. He was running his fingers through her hair, just like when she first woke up. He was whispering against the top of her head, muttering such comforting things like when she was trying to recover from her migraine. She couldn't, but he was breathing with her, sharing each heart beat, each gasp, each breath. She couldn't-She _couldn't_ do it.

And yet her mind was reeling with the scenarios. If she stayed, if she gave in-

No, she had already said it. Zach would come for her. Just like she came for him. They couldn't be together. Zach couldn't be here. They couldn't be together and have Zach back on Earth-It just _couldn't_ happen. Not now, not ever.

Jenny knew, and that's why she stopped crying. It was a choice between the impossible, and the reasonable. The only way humans and Shadow Men coexisted was in games and death. But that was a lie, too. Jenny had lived with him-had honestly, happily _lived_ with this Shadow Man-But that was different-Didn't matter. It was real-It was just her consciousness-But she was here now, and how she _wanted_ to stay, to have that back.

But Zach….

For a minute Jenny actually cursed her grandfather. She never would have to known this pain if he hadn't have taught her the hunting ways. And yet, she swallowed that down in the next moment because she was strong because of him. She was cunning and deceptive and _strong_. Strong in so many ways. A normal girl would curl up on a couch with some ice cream when she got dumped. She couldn't physically face the sharpest point of her pain head-on until she beat it. Jenny knew this-She knew _how_ to face a lot of things in the world. Pain was inevitable. Fighting was inevitable. _Love_ was impossible.

So Jenny stopped panicking. She let the last tear fall, and when Julian finally stopped bribing her, she let her head drop. She felt her hands, still on his chest, cinch a little tighter to his shirt because it was the only thing keeping her standing.

Oh, how easier it would be to fall. To pass out, to die-to not face any of this-But she had to. She _was_.

So she swallowed everything down, and forced herself to speak. "Show me where Zach is…."

"Jen-"

Jenny stopped him before he could even begin to interrupt with her fingers on his lips. She couldn't look at him-couldn't open her eyes-so she spoke into the hollow space of his neck where she currently hid herself from the world.

"Make this deal with me. Show me where he is, let me talk to him. If he really did choose to stay here…then let me talk to him. Let me try and convince him to go home. If I can then…then we can finish the two rounds here. Alone."

She met his gaze then, after a strong deep breath, prepared for the worse when the last of that sentence hung back on her tongue. _With nothing left to hold us back…._

Julian's eyes were lighter than sapphires, bluer than the colors that streaked the spaces between the worlds. He looked _fascinated_ with her, wowed by her mere image, and what she was saying-His hands crawled up her slowly, digging into her hair, to her face, cupping it gently. He pulled her closer than they were before, just on the verge of kissing-But Jenny had to keep the sliver of air between them, so she could think-She _couldn't_ -

She forced the next words out in a shaky breath, quickly spilled out before he could kiss her again. "And if I can't, then I'll forfeit. I-I'll stay."

Julian didn't need to respond with words. It was odd, how a man who mastered cruelty like a violin, who could speak so profoundly-to drive you mad, to tell you exactly what you did or didn't want to hear-didn't have to speak at all to inflict so many emotions in a person. It was in his predator eyes, in the perfect features of his face, how quickly they lit up. It was in his body, how quickly he tensed against her, how his hands seemed to cradle her head in a touch that made her numb. It was too much for Jenny to take, how badly she wanted to look away, but again-now more than ever-she knew it was useless. She was forced to take him in-all of him in a way that was almost….cruel.

The question was in his eyes-in the air-but Jenny couldn't say it aloud. They were choked up in her throat, in a fit that was almost painful, that forced her to swallow it down. She couldn't even nod, but the submission was clear in her eyes. She wanted to stay-she did. A part of her was just so desperate for it. After all this time, all this fighting, she just couldn't bear it any longer, and she wasn't denying it anymore.

And yet….

When Julian moved his head the slightest bit, Jenny immediately closed her eyes. She held her breath, bracing herself for his kiss, for what it would to do her. His lips brushed hers, softer than silk, and her blood roared in her eyes. She was clutching to the front of his shirt to the point where the wounds on her hands were throbbing worse than ever before. She was waiting for it, waiting to try and catch herself when she fell.

And yet Julian held her there, in his hands, on his lips, lingering on the fine line of contact, sharing each other's breath, with the shadows moving around them, consuming them entirely. It was already breath-taking. He hadn't even kissed her yet and Jenny was already falling.

However, he never moved after that. Jenny sat there for a long time, unable to move, unable to open her eyes. She felt him gazing at her, looking through her, to all the things Shadow Men see, and it terrified her. What he saw, what he did to her, and how badly it effected her.

Jenny finally had to open her eyes, going solely off of Julian's support. He was looking at her, of course he was, from so close, so intense. But his gaze then moved passed her, just over her shoulder, and it was like breaking the spell.

Jenny noticed that their environment had changed. Before it was nothing except Julian and the shadows behind him, but now that Jenny could actually look away from the Shadow Man, she noticed their homey log cabin interior was gone, replaced by the Shadow Park once more. They were standing in a spacious area, with the Ferris Wheel far off to the left-Jenny remembered this spot. It was near where she first woke up, just passed the water section of the park.

Julian's grip on her relaxed just slightly, making Jenny rock off the balls of her feet back to her heels, which she hadn't even noticed she was standing on. She was still so close to him, still in his arms, but she got the hint. She looked over her shoulder, where the Shadow Man was currently looking, and saw the Maze of Darkness.

Her heart instantly wretched on itself.

She was so _stupid_. Of course Zach was in there-Where he last was-Where Julian had taken him. He's been trapped in there all this time, in nothing but shadows, alone-Jenny was beginning to panic about it, hating herself, cursing her actions, blaming herself, but she calmed herself just as fast with a sharp focus only a Hunter of Shadow Man could have. It was almost like flipping a switch, going from so flustered, so undone, to as still as death-Numb. And God, Jenny needed to be numb for this.

Julian was watching her carefully, mesmerized by the look on her face, so very intrigued as to how she was going to handle this. He didn't care how-He didn't even care if she was able to somehow get her cousin out of his own trap, she was basically sworn his. And she knew it. He felt it in how slowly she let go of his chest, how they fell to her sides in defeat. Her head was bowed now, but her breathing was still erratic. God, it still amazed him, her strength, how quickly she was able to act like she was perfectly fine, like she had a chance of winning. He was smiling at it. Then she stabbed him.

She moved fast, sinking the enchanted blade deep into his gut, and snapped the chant faster than any mortal should be able to do. The power immediately knocked Julian back, but it was Jenny's kick, done so fast to his chest, that sent him crashing back into the nearest wall. The runes spilled out of her lips so fast that Julian missed them, finishing the spell in a heartbeat. The effect came in bright rays of light which came much like a net and pinned Julian against the wall. The pain was immediate, the power from the Egyptian trap burning right through the shadows he was made of, actually causing a sharp shout to break from his throat. It continued to course through him, like lava to his icy core. His first thought was to break free, an attempt at using the shadows around him to break himself out of it, but the action only made it worse, causing him to writhe in place. Jenny was on him at the same time, standing just in front of him, blade pointed for his neck.

Seeing her, how desperate she was trying to hold herself together, made the fury rage through Julian like the worst fire that ever existed. It came from the hole in his gut, in the burn from the seal that was holding him down. She had basically thrown him back into the closet her grandfather had him in, only now he was trapped in his own world, at her feet, under her bloody hands-

But the hand with the knife was shaking. She was crying, hopelessly trying to keep her lip from quivering as the tears streamed down her cheeks in silence. And she was looking at him, right into his pained expression, at the sharp stab of betrayal in those indigo eyes.

They stood there like that, as Hunter and Demon, for a very, very long time.

Julian kept her gaze. He held her there, in her own suffering, for as long as he could while it felt like his very soul was being clawed at. He had to tame himself, to bite back the pain, in order to speak.

"Congratulations, Jenny," he said very bitterly with pain edging his voice. "You've officially caught yourself a Shadow Man."

Jenny choked on a sob now, causing a pathetic mewl to escape her lips. Her arm finally dropped, where the knife fell from her limp fingers. She didn't know what to do with herself. She stumbled backwards, then forward, as her swollen eyes searched him up and down, at the chains of light holding him down, at what she did. Her mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out but a desperate stutter for air. She looked shocked, and the distant look in her eyes-it was torn apart.

Because she just destroyed everything in a matter of seconds. She beat him. She threw away everything, the moment they just had, the moments they would _ever_ have-Gone. She defeated him at his own game, as a Hunter should. Her grandfather would be proud.

But that didn't stop her heart from shredding in her chest.

No, she did this for Zach. This was for Zach. She did this to save her cousin. She-She had to-There was no other way-

So Jenny finally got herself to step forward, right above the power that was holding him down. She couldn't look him in the eyes, she couldn't let him see how hard it was for her to do this, thus she said it with her eyes on the blackened floor of the Shadow World. It came out hushed and _raw_. "I'm sorry."

Then she took off. Before she could stop herself, before she could change her mind and release him and forfeit the game, she ran as hard as her weak knees would let her. She charged straight for the door of the Maze of Darkness, only here it wasn't a layer of tarp covering the doorway. It was a thick piece of wood, as black as the rest of the building. But Jenny snapped a rune without stopping, knocking the board apart with a burst of power, and she dove through the falling splinters like a track star.

She was engulfed in the shadows and the heat in an instant, and it choked her. It was so much worse than the one on Earth, as if the shadows were physically suffocating her, blinding her, paralyzing her-But Jenny kept running. She knew whatever pattern she had taken the first time on Earth didn't matter here. She went barreling down the blind corridors, throwing herself off the corners, ignoring the pain in her body-in her heart.

" _ **Zach!**_ " She was screaming even though the air felt like it was filled with smoke, scratching down her throat. "Zach!"

Then she turned a corner, and saw herself. The mirror had her dumbstruck for only a moment before she full-on tackled the image. The glass shifted somehow, tweaking the atmosphere in some mystical way, then Jenny fell into the light.

She landed on shadows, on a ground that didn't exist-a floor she was familiar with. But this place was bright, lights bouncing everywhere, clearly showing how the blood from Jenny's hands went seeping right through the barrier and dripping down into the endless black swirls under her. Her whole body was throbbing, but it was her head that hurt the most. Like a stake in the back of her neck, it ached so bad she actually had to stop and clutch it, writhing in pain there on the floor of this new room. Yet, she forced herself up-She had to. She couldn't stop moving. She couldn't let her thoughts-the feelings catch up to her or else she wouldn't be able to get back up.

Sitting up, Jenny found herself in a room of mirrors. Just like before in the maze back on Earth, when Julian had teased her with her own reflections, there was a circle of individual mirrors surrounding her. Only this room was much bigger than before, grounded by the same substance that Jenny had been trapped in back in the closet. And the lights here were mind-boggling, reflecting off different mirrors, bouncing around, almost like some seizure-causing light show. It only added to Jenny's headache, striking the pain to be worse, just like in her chest when she had stabbed him-

No, stop it!

Jenny forced herself to stand, to focus and squint and see passed the lights of this place, but she only saw herself. Everywhere, she saw her terrified expression, her swollen green eyes, Julian's blood on her hands-

Stop! Stop!

She looked everywhere else, anything beyond the continued reflection of herself, but the images only repeated, causing an endless stream of herself-everywhere-haunting her.

She tried running, tried moving passed the reflections to find the way out, to get to her cousin, but then she was running into herself, into the cold glass again and again. She tried screaming for Zach, repeating his name over and over until her voice broke. She ran into the mirrors again until the frustration-the overwhelming pain-finally made her kick it so hard that the glass shattered. Some of the light broke apart then, easing her view into the shadows behind the falling glass. The endless room of mirrors was exactly the same on the other side of the hole she created, but she didn't see herself in there. Actually she saw a shadow in the distance-a figure in the lack of light.

Jenny dove through the broken mirror, shoes crunching the glass on the ground that didn't exist. It was darker in here, enough to see but not as blinding as before. She saw herself clearly, coming in from every direction, but she ignored them, and focused on the one other body in the room. She approached the outline as quick as she could, running on her instincts, not thinking, not breathing-

"Zach!" She called right as she got up to him, only she ran into glass.

The shock from that felt like a punch in the nose because now he was so clear; dirty blond hair in a ponytail, wearing the same clothes as before when she found him unconscious on the floor. The light shifted, revealing him not a few inches away but feet away, through another reflection.

Surprisingly, he turned from her shout, wide gray eyes searching through the reflections until he saw her. He was pale, with bags under his eyes, but it was Zach all the same. And the confusion was immediate on his face.

"Jenny?" His voice came like an echo, hushed and distant. But it was as solid as a cinderblock in Jenny's mind, and the relief finally broke the terrible sob she was holding back.

"Oh, Zach. I'm-Where are you?" She spun around the mirrors now where his shocked profile was scattered everywhere. Although he was staring at her through each one, Jenny couldn't find which one was real. The world felt like it was spinning. She tried so hard to see passed the tricks, through the mirrored images, to find her cousin. "T-Talk to me. Do a spell or something-I-I-"

"But…." His reflection was still staring at her strangely as she ran around, blinking at her with a look she's never seen before. "You can't be here…." Then that distant look of confusion twisted into that of anger. He squared his jaw as his teeth clenched, then he grabbed his temples as if in pain. He let out a deep groan, one of pure frustration that he used to show when they were practicing in the basement during training.

Somehow, his frustration was clear in the fog of Jenny's mind and she had to stop moving. "No, no-no Zach, its me. I'm not a trick-"

"Shut up!"

"No, _listen_ to me! _Ankh_!"

Something shattered in the distance and half of the light in the room went out in a flash. Zach's reflection looked back up instantly, noticing the change in the shadows, and inevitably, back to Jenny.

"I came for you-Listen to me. Th-This was a game. I-I played it. I beat him. We can go home."

"No, that's impossible. How did you…"

"I found you unconscious in the Maze, Zach! At the park on Earth. This is a mind trap. Remember? Like grandfather taught us-Like what happened to me. This is just your subconscious. Y-Your body is still there-"

"I know."

For a second Jenny thought she misheard him, but now his reflection was looking down to the ground, a new sternness taking place on his face. Jenny was still looking back and forth between each reflection, trying to meet his gaze. "What?"

"That…That was the deal. Take my soul and leave you alone. I-I…I didn't think you would find me like that-"

" _What_?" Jenny stopped on one of his reflections now and waited until those deep gray eyes met hers again.

"He was coming for you, Jenny. I had to stop him."

Oh _no_.

It was too much for Jenny to bear. For a moment she believed she was being tricked, that this wasn't Zach at all, but a cruel part of the game that Julian was controlling, but Julian was trapped-powerless-right now.

So Jenny accepted it as reality as best she could, but the pain was too much. Her chest swelled with too many emotions to decipher-pain, anger, agony, relief-they all blended together into one astonished ache. She had planned on asking him what he had done, what sick game did he get himself into, but her instincts saved her, saying instead, "I-It doesn't matter. The game's over-I won. We can go home."

Surprisingly, Jenny saw fear flicker over her cousin's face through the reflections. "I…can't do th-"

"Are you _listening_ to me?!" Jenny only realized she screamed when her own voice echoed back to her, sounding hollow and harsh. "I _beat_ him. I came for you, I trapped his ass, and found you. We're going _home_. He can't do anything! I **won**."

"No, you gave him the right!" Zach shouted back, voice loud and firm. "He wasn't allowed to touch you! Our deal was to leave you alone! So you wouldn't-You shouldn't have come after me."

"I thought you were dead," Jenny snapped back. She ran around the mirrors, trying to get through any of the distorted angles to see her cousin's face again. "I knew he had you-I wasn't going to let him win-"

"I'm not going back." He said it so matter-of-factly that Jenny stopped.

"What?"

"I can't, Jenny. You don't understand."

There was a pause between his words that made something in Jenny-the panic, the _feelings_ -settle enough for her to think rationally.

Julian said he chose to stay here. Zach just said he did this for _her._

"Please, Jenny, just go home. Now, while you have the chance."

His tone went so soft, so weak, that Jenny immediately challenged it. She realized-She knew _why_. "No, I'm not going home without you."

The reflection of her cousin finally turned back around, dark gray eyes scanning the dim lights until he found her again. "Jenny, you don't understand. You _can't_ stay here! You'll-"

"I know about the wound."

To that, her cousin's mouth went slack.

"Julian told me. I know it's weak. It's why you wanted me to stop fighting, isn't it? To let it heal."

Zach didn't answer her. His gaze dropped to the floor, lips pursing as something almost painful crossed his face. Jenny ran up to each reflection now, not stopping until she touched each one, hating the fact that she was talking to sheets of glass. "Zach, _please_. Come out-come back to me. We'll go home. Julian healed it a bit-I'm fine. We can quit this game-"

"He _healed_ you?" There was something like spite in his words, something that reminded Jenny of the Shadow Man's kind act, how gently he held her in his arms.

Then she went and stabbed him in the gut-

She bit back whatever noise rose up her throat, whimper or sob, and clenched her eyes as she forced herself to answer her cousin. "Yes, not all the way. Just enough. We were playing a game, and I won. Now, _please_ , before he gets loose or something-"

"I can't go home, jenny."

"Ugh, Zach!"

"No, it's not about _the game_!" He stressed the words so immensely that the lights shifted around them, making the reflection Jenny was currently glaring at flicker and disappear. The images of him reappeared elsewhere in the mirrors, as if he has transported into a new space in the dimensions. "I-I….I can't do it, Jenny. I can't risk you being hurt."

"What are you talking about?"

But her cousin didn't answer her. He merely shook his head, then the shadows started to wrap around him, making him disappear. "Go home, Jenny."

"Wait-No!" She shouted, then snapped a rune, the rune for light, and the shadows backed off, making Zach's image stumble a bit. "Do you honestly expect me to just leave you here? You actually _chose_ to stay here, after everything I went through to save you?" She flashed her hands at him, showing the crimson blood on her fingers, as proof.

"I didn't ask you to save me-"

"And I didn't ask you to sacrifice yourself for me!" Jenny screamed so loud that it echoed in the back of her head, throbbing so bad she had to cradle it. But she kept going. "You had no right to trade yourself for me. You have no right to stay here like a _coward_. Now stop being weak, and come back with me!"

"If I do, he gets the right to take you!" He argued back just as loud.

"No, he doesn't! I won!"

"It doesn't matter!" He looked right into her then, like all the times before when he was forcing her to stifle their hunting ways. "If grandfather had done the same thing, you wouldn't have questioned him."

"Grandfather wouldn't have been stupid enough to make a deal he couldn't get out of!"

She saw the offense, the hurt in his eyes, and it swelled over him like a raging storm. It destroyed his defenses, his strength, draining away into the weakened expression of a teenaged boy. And it hurt Jenny as well, knowing she had caused it. She had caused so much pain-to both the boys she cared about.

That's why Jenny didn't say anything further. Instead, she ran up to the nearest mirror and kicked it. The glass cracked, then shattered with the next kick. But nothing revealed itself from the shadows like it did last time. So Jenny went to the next one, round-house kicking the glass three times until it shattered as well.

"Jenny, stop."

Another kick. Another shatter.

"Stop it. You're going to hurt yourself. Just go-"

Shatter.

" _Jenny_!"

But she didn't listen. She kept kicking every mirror until each one cracked or smashed to pieces. And when her ankle gave out on her, she started using her elbows, her knees, the handle of her blades, runes- _anything_ to make them disappear. Zach yelled at her the entire time, but Jenny didn't stop. She kept smashing and smashing and smashing _and smashing_ until finally the exhaustion dropped her to her knees. She cut her hand open immediately and painted the runes on the ground that didn't exist. A bit of her was surprised the spell even worked, but she was thankful. Because even though the radar seared through the wound on the back of her head like a thousand scorching suns, it showed her exactly how the structure of magic built the world they were in, shadows layered over top of each other to create the illusion.

And the solid living, breathing figure of power directly behind her.

Jenny saw him, his shape and energy covered in the shadows, and she immediately jumped up, finding the mirror behind her that held his reflection. She stormed to it in an instant, and in that moment right before she kicked it, she saw her cousin's face flash to pure _terror_.

" _No_ -!"

The entire room shattered. The mirrors exploded in concession, going down the line until they all fell away. The shadows took over then, forming intangible walls, no kind of ceiling, revealing the vast emptiness of black fog behind them. It was exactly like the closet, only bigger. Immediately, Jenny's head flared as if she had just been struck.

She couldn't hold back the cry of pain as she clutched onto the wound, but the reason she didn't collapse-the **only** reason-was seeing her cousin right in front of her.

There he was. In all his reality of flushed cheeks, wide eyes, and torn clothes. He was the real thing, Jenny knew immediately, because she could feel him, his presence, his warmth, just a few feet away. And the relief was enough to make Jenny stand back up, to reach for him.

"Oh, Zach."

"No, _don't_."

First, his wrist moved, just the simplest of flicks. Then the power knocked Jenny right in the gut.

It sent her falling back, right on her butt, where the shocked followed suite in a terrible throb through her whole body. In the moment that she laid there, too stunned to get back up, she heard Zach's terrible groan.

"No!" He all but screamed. "No-No! I-I-Jenny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-I-I-"

Oh, no.

Jenny shot back up, a little out of breath, but unharmed. She knew that tone of voice. She had only heard it once, a long time ago. Such pain, such _fear_.

Her cousin was covering his face, shaking his head. Then he was tugging at his hair, wide eyes on the floor that didn't exist, and Jenny immediately saw him as he was several years ago. Back in the basement, on a cold rainy day. It was late, it was dark. Jenny had found him bloody with a knife in his hand. But he hadn't been practicing runes. Something had been terribly wrong. Something about himself-his control. The fear had gotten to him. When Jenny had tried to comfort him, to bring him back, he had turned the blade on her. Jenny remembered the fear in his voice, the disbelief in his gaze afterwards, when he seemed to blink and come to. It took him a long time to realize it, how he had tackled her, found himself on top of her legs, the bloody enchanted blade no longer digging into his sore forearms but Jenny's soft ankle. Zach didn't hurt her-Her cousin never would have done such a thing. But the fear, whatever terrible thing that had grabbed a hold of him that night, had been the one to make him attack her. Jenny knew, she hadn't blamed him.

It had just been that one incident, just that one episode. Zach learned to control his fear, to take hold of whatever horrible being that was trying to invade his mind. But now, staring up at her cousin now, she saw that same power begin to overtake him.

Again, he was shaking his head. Again, the fear had numbed his voice, making him mumble as his eyes darted everywhere but her. "No. No, I can't go back. I can't _hurt_ you."

"Zach-"

"No, I won't! I won't risk it!"

"Zach, you didn't hurt me!" Jenny got back to her feet then, taking longer than she wanted when her head was beginning to drag her down. "I'm fine-Look at me! I'm _fine_. You're fine."

"No." He started back-peddling away from her, quickly, staring at the ground. "No, you don't understand."

Jenny tried to soften her tone, like one would do to calm a frightened animal. "Zach, this isn't your fault. It's the Shadow Men, remember? Remember what they do-"

"They _showed_ me." It was the way Zach strained his eyes, how his chest began to heave up and down with his frantic breathing, that Jenny realized he wasn't staring at the ground at all. He was looking at her ankle, at the hidden scar he had caused. He wasn't staring off in the vast nothingness under their floor. He was seeing what he had done, how he hurt her, all over again.

"He-He showed me, Jenny. Years from now, when you try to help me, I-" he broke himself off quickly by physically throwing himself away. He all but ran off, right into the depths of the shadows of their containment.

Jenny followed him instantly. "No, Zach, stop!" But then the power came like an invisible barrier, appearing right in front of her so fast that she ran into it. The pain from her nose echoed in the back of her skull, ending in a terrible throb in her temples.

"You have to go home."

"Zach, _please_ -"

"No, I won't hurt you. Not again."

"You're not _going_ to," Jenny tried to stress the words. She was thankful he stopped running, but she dreaded the fact that he was now pacing back and forth, hands securely at his temples. "I won't let you. Please, let's just go home."

"I _**can't**_ , aren't you listening?!" The scream made the entire room quiver, surprising Jenny enough to gasp. He was continuing, eyes shut, head shaking, "I can't control it anymore! I-I've tried so hard, but I-I-It's impossible. Painting doesn't work anymore-I-I've tried not to but-but the thoughts just keep coming, and then you're there and I imagine-Ahh!" He screamed away that image, turning away from her again, but he wasn't done. "He showed me, Jenny. I won't be able to-to stop myself. I'm gonna snap-It's going to take me over. And you're the one who'll-who-I-"

And this, jenny realized, was what true fear looked like.

She felt it just as strongly as it possessed her cousin before her. Fear that ate away your heart bit by bit, so subtly that you don't realize you've gone off the deep end until you're mid-fall; and that's when the fear consumes the rest of you, in a flash, in a heartbeat, taking control of your thoughts, your breathing, your vision. As bad as it happened to Jenny right now, feeling the blood on her hands, watching her cousin fall to his knees as he lost his grip on everything-realizing that she was losing both the men she loved-she could only imagine what the fear had done to Zach-What it had been doing to him over the years.

What had he heard? What had he seen? What had he _done_ to frighten himself, to lose control over himself? How long had he suffered in silence? Why hadn't he said anything? Why hadn't Jenny _noticed_?

Then came the plethora of emotions that fear inevitably inflicted-

Something shifted in the air, and Jenny saw the flash of color in the corner of her eye. At first the terror-the horrible realization that Julian could have escaped, that he could be here at this very moment-hit her like a freight train; but as she turned, wild eyes scanning the shadows for the impossible blue, all she found was a simple arch of space. It sat in a tall rectangle of light, clearly revealing the space between dimensions, much like a portal-or a doorway.

The doorway home.

Her stomach sank.

"Go home, Jenny."

He was being swallowed by the shadows again, walking away, disappearing, fading _again_. It was in that moment, stuck between the fear and composure, that Jenny finally realized what her grandfather had always been trying to burn into her mind. The sense of responsibility, to truly have a _meaning_ in this world, this work, this life. It was like a rule of the heart, he had always said. A rule you have to master, to tame, peacefully. The harsh thing was, this control wasn't peaceful at all.

Jenny understood now, somehow, like a light going off in the dark. Watching her cousin leave her, feeling Julian's blood drying on her hands, she finally understood.

She shouted the rune as firm and steady as she ever had, much like she used to when she was younger, practicing in front of her bedroom mirror to check her pronunciation and tone. It was sharp, knocking her cousin right between the shoulder blades. By the time he spun around, Jenny had already chanted a spell, creating an energy much like a whip that snagged her cousin by the ankles, tripping him instantly. First he was shocked, but when he met her strict gaze, her firm stance-shoulders squared, back straight, faced parallel to him-his surprise quickly morphed to frustration.

"Don't," was all he said, short, strong.

But Jenny remained there, unmoved, unaffected. " _We're_ going home."

Then she moved closer, three quick large steps, and used the blood from her hands to activate the next rune. Zach was on his feet by the time she said it, and he was able to block her blow with a quick rune of his own. His face struggled between anger and concern, as if unable to decipher between the emotions coursing through him.

"Jenny, please. Don't do this-"

"If you want to send me home," she practically screamed, "you're going to have to fight me."

She snapped an Egyptian rune, one that made the walls of their containment quiver and shift, catching Zach's frantic attention. Then Jenny charged at him, screaming, " _Dagaz!_ " The effect seemed to center in his gut, doubling him over. Jenny was shouting the chain of indications that she had used just earlier, like a net of light, but Zach had cut her off almost effortlessly, using his own indications to break the power before it got to him. He jumped back in the process, but Jenny was already on him. She tried to snag his arm, shouting something else that made the shadows under their feet quake, Zach stumbled.

He lifted his hand to counter her, to try and match her, just like when they quarreled as kids during practice in the basement, but he broke the number one rule-he hesitated-

Jenny had him for half a second before the pain ricocheted up her forearm, breaking her hold on him. But she didn't scream, didn't back away. She continued at him as he backed away from her, focusing on her cousin as if he were a Shadow Man, hunting him, trying to trap him. She wasn't blinking, wasn't even speaking. As he shouted at her, pleaded her to stop-to just go home-Jenny said nothing except rune after rune, spell after spell, following him, getting as close as she could before Zach finally snapped something back. She finally stumbled, breaking her concentration, but she was getting back up instantly, quickly.

"Stop it!" He yelled at her. "Just leave me here!"

She came at him again, making him repeat the rune, dropping her to her knees this time. The heat came to the back of her neck enough to strike tears, so Jenny kept her head down. She coated the rune on the transparent black floor, aiming it for Zach's feet. The force knocked him flat on his back, where Jenny was on him in a flash. He wrestled her, which Jenny immediately knew she was going to lose. Zach was physically stronger than her, he always pinned her back in practice-

-but not today.

Jenny fought him with everything she had, knocking on the inside of his scarred forearms to weaken his grips, digging her knees into his gut, elbowing him in the sternum, anything to keep him down. She tried to get the chant down, to trap him where he was so she could drag him through the very doorway he conjured up for her, but once more he interrupted her.

"Why are you so-" He grappled for her shoulders, trying to get her to give in so he could top her, but Jenny squirmed, she fought his every move, trying to get his arms down. When his lengthy legs came around hers the same time his arm wrapped around her waist, she quickly jerked her knee into the soft spot of his inner elbow, preventing him from throwing her to the ground. He was screaming at her, interrupted by stopping her attempts at chaining him down. "Don't make me do this! I-I can't hurt you, so why do you- _Djew!_ Jenny, I said-Ugh! This is why grandfather died-Because you don't listen!"

The shock went through Jenny like a bullet, actually stilling her with such an intimate pain. He used her pause to get his legs under her, and kicked her off, making her land on the back of her shoulders. But Jenny rolled on her arm, flipping her over and getting herself back to her feet in a professional sense. She felt the wear on her heart as much as her body, but she wasn't listening to it. Zach was right; she wasn't listening to anything but her instincts now. Anything to win the game.

So she charged him again, and again, and again. She attacked him with runes, which he blocked. She attacked him with her fists, her feet, which he countered, tripping her, shoving her back. He did nothing but defense, but Jenny pushed him-harder than their grandfather ever did-until the anger overpowered the concern in him.

When he did strike back, it was harsh and strong. It came as a blow to jenny's shoulder, physically whipping her away, but Jenny used the momentum to throw herself back at him, snapping a spell right back. Zach avoided that and said a chant faster than her, this one literally stole her breath, choking her, as if she just had the wind knocked out of her. So Jenny used _Kenaz_ , watching the flames grab her cousin's flannel shirt like wicked hands from the shadows. He had to break his focus on her to make sure he didn't get burned, which immediately gave Jenny her breath back.

Jenny then attempted a punch for his throat, which he was able to skillfully snatch her wrist and twist it away, striking such a sharp pain in her tendon, making her wince. Zach saw it, and the fear struck instantly. He kicked her away, forcing her down and away, and he backed away from her once more. His grey eyes were wide again and he was breathing heavily, control desperately slipping from him.

"You're going to make me kill you!" he screamed at her. "I won't! I won't do it! Go. Home."

"I'm _not_ leaving you!" Jenny finally shouted back as she stumbled to get back to her feet, but the pain in the back of her head had increased, weighing her down like a ton. It started to fatter her vision, making her blink hard and shake it off, rattling her brain around in her skull like a slushy. It was dizzying and painful, but Jenny stood up anyway. She missed Zach's next rune, which knocked her right back to her knees. She shouted one from the ground, but she couldn't tell if she hit him or not because she was currently trying to keep her head from exploding by cradling her temples.

"You'll kill yourself if you stay here," he was stressing, pleading. "That was the deal, Jenny. Please, just let me do this."

"No!"

She got up. Even though it hurt. Even though the world was spinning, changing, she got back up. She found her cousin and said the chant one more time, trying to trap him one more time, which he cut off yet again.

"You're giving up," she tried to speak correctly when the pressure was congesting behind her eyes. "You're letting them win-What did grandfather tell us?"

'Jenny-"

"What did grandfather tell us?!" She ran at him when she screamed this, forcing Zach to brace himself and catch her flying fists. He deflected them as he back peddled, the fear once again raking over his face. "Never give in. Find the loophole!"

"Never go backwards!" He quoted right after her, the same time he overpowered her attacks. He knocked her hands away right as he snapped a rune, one that shifted their whole containment, jerking them around, right next to the door. "Remember? If one of us ever got captured-If he ever left us, we were _not_ to try and rescue him-"

"Like you pulled me out from the closet?" Jenny snapped.

"You're not _listening_."

He snatched her by the arms, and Jenny could tell by the way he planted his feet that he was going to throw her for the doorway. So Jenny dove under his arms and practically tackled him. She twisted her feet amid it, getting him to fall right in front of the doorway. Jenny landed on his chest, and she had to grab his face with both of her hands to get him to actually _see_ her.

"No, _you're_ not listening. You're afraid-They made you afraid. We aren't supposed to be afraid of them-"

"But I am." Zach said it so simply, so straight forward, that Jenny immediately saw him as the child who hurt her all those years ago. He gazed up at her so _helplessly_ , with such a strong amount of conflict and pain that reminded Jenny of the last face she saw when she fell out of the closet four years ago. "I can't-I can't do it, Jenny. And neither can you."

Then Zach said a rune Jenny didn't remember. It was like a command of the shadows, making the power grab her and lift her right off of Zach. By the time her disoriented mind caught back up with the world, Zach was kicking her right in the chest, just as she had done to Julian moments ago.

She fell back, right against the threshold, but she just barely caught herself, the very tips of her fingertips snatching the doorway, preventing herself from fully falling through. Zach was on her before she could even try and get back up, to regain her balance and throw herself back inside the containment. He was about to push her, she knew, to force her back home, thus she said, "Zach, _don't_."

He hesitated for about half a second, staring at her so desperately, where Jenny prayed he would at least try and listen, before he closed his eyes and shoved her through.

Jenny didn't get the chance to scream. The force knocked the air right out of her as it yanked her away, mind and soul, straight through the darkness. It felt like the entire world just ripped away from her, she saw, as it stretched from her view until it was nothing but shadows and pressure. God, the pain that ripped through her core-

She finally landed, feeling air and heat and light come into her at a million miles an hour. The world came back to her harshly, first in the back of her shoulders, then all around as she rolled and crashed onto the floor of her bedroom. The force knocked her all the way across the room, landing in the farthest corner with the harshest of collisions, at the same time as she heard the door slam. But the noise merely added to the cacophony of sounds erupting in her temple-the pain so immense that she couldn't even cry. Pressure, heat, throbs-It all came into her mind like a freight train, uncontrollable, sudden, and immense. It pulled on her consciousness, drained her strength, but it was on the very last strands of her being that Jenny didn't pass out; Because when she got the energy to lift her head, she saw her closet door parallel to her, with the bloody runes and all.

And it was closed.

"No!"

She forced herself up, half-crawling half-stumbling her way over until her legs officially gave out on her. The pain from hitting her knees echoed up her chest, straight to her mind, making it so much worse. But Jenny opened the door anyway-She had to. She practically fell inside, landing among the mess of shoe boxes and jackets and shirts.

She had to go back. He couldn't stay there-He couldn't suffer for her. She needed to rescue him-She wasn't supposed to come back without him-

But she did. He forced her back. He gave up, forfeited the game, and refused her to do the same. The portal was now closed, Zach was still there, Julian was trapped in his own world, and she was back home, on Earth. Alone. She failed. She lost.

And that thought, that realization, was the final straw. The pain took over, washing out all coherent thoughts and feelings from her. As if all the blood drained from her, she collapsed in on herself, a weak and bloody heap on the floor without so much as another cry. She passed out there, on the cramped floor of her bedroom closet, with tears staining her face, as all the times before.

Only this time, Julian wasn't there to catch her.

 **56 FUCKIN PAGES! OH SWEET LORD BABY JESUS DX Do you guys understand why it took so long for me to update now? Dx I hope it was worth it! My main struggle was their fight in the beginning. What I had originally written felt out of place in Julian's character so I had to make him a bit more devious and challenging toward Jenny. Hope it worked! Also, if I broke your hearts, I am terribly sorry. I promise to make it up to you ;D**

 **As for my fellow stories, they are also close to updating. I (as always) apologize for being so slow. Sometimes when I'm plotting things out, I will get the story details mixed up. That's what I get for writing multiple Forbidden Game Ffs at the same time Dx but its worth it to me when I see all your happy reviews, which I am very thankful for!**

 **So yeah, please review and tell me what you think; if you hate me, if you hate Zach, if you hate Jenny hahaha I love to hear your guys' opinions and thoughts on what's going to happen next. Also any advice is greatly appreciated : ) thanks again for sticking with me guys.**

 **Till my next update!**

 **ZVA**


	6. Chapter 6

Jenny was flying. Faster than any of her training, than any of the games. She was racing down the sidewalk, beating cars down the block, arms pumping, calves burning. She turned the next corner so fast that she had to grab the pole of the stop sign to slingshot herself back on track, where she ran **harder**. Her throat was sore from panting. The pads of her feet were numb. She hadn't been keeping track of her time, she hadn't for the past four days. She was just running. She barely avoided any pedestrians, barely checked the street for cars before she sprinted across. She didn't even care about her directions. She just ran. And ran. And ran.

She wasn't thinking. She wasn't even _feeling_ -she refused to feel anything. She'd rather run herself exhausted then think about it. She pushed Zach's fear out of her mind, she erased the shiver from Julian's touch from her body's memory-his kiss-Zach's scream-Julian's blood-

Stop!

She was seeing it all over again, making her clench her eyes shut, but she had to look in order to avoid the bus stop bench. She ignored the strange look the boy sitting there gave her as she practically flew by, and she just kept running. She only stopped when her foot caught something. Her momentum threw her into the ground so hard that she couldn't even think about catching herself. Her cheek hit the ground first, then her shoulder. Her body rolled over itself, crashing into the unforgiving ground again and again just like when she fell into her room when Zach sent her back-

She landed face-down in the dirt, next to a tall oak tree, where the pain immediately centered in the entire left half of her face. Jenny just had to lay there for a minute, allowing the ache to wash over her, and she wallowed in it for as long as possible, praying it would numb her thoughts-the feelings-

It didn't.

She finally sat up, cradling her face as it throbbed and swelled-Yep, she was definitely getting a bruise, if not a black eye. She positioned herself against the tree, wincing as both her right knee and her hip gave a sharp twinge of pain, and sat there, panting, aching. It took her a second to realize she was near the park on the very edge of town, where the grass field stretched far into a baseball diamond and a play structure in the distance. She was away from any of the people, on the other side of the dirt trail that ran through the whole park, and she was glad. She really didn't want to see the happy smiles of children as they played. She didn't want to see a couple holding hands as they walk. She wouldn't be able to stand it. But she couldn't close her eyes either. It was torture; the fact that she wasn't even being played with by a Shadow Man and still she was in so much pain.

Because she failed. She lost. She didn't save Zach. She didn't come back home with him. She didn't get what she wanted. She lost it all.

Jenny could hear her grandfather scolding her in the back of her mind, where it actually pulsed in physical pain. She reached a numb hand up at the sensation and cradled the invisible wound, just like Julian had done all the times before. Would it heal? If she stopped using the runes, if she stopped hunting? There was no reason for her to do it anymore. Not when every spell reminded her of the ones she failed to convince Zach to come home-Not when every rune brought forth the image of Julian chained before her, bloody and betrayed.

Of course, she hadn't told anyone. When she woke up in the closet four days ago, she had locked herself in her room for the next day and a half. Her mother finally got her to come out, but she couldn't go to school. She barely answered the phone when her friends called. She couldn't deal with it; she wasn't trained on how to handle such pain.

Zach's body was still in the hospital, still in a "coma." Everyone was still visiting him, running tests, hoping to find out what was wrong. Her parents, even her friends, tried to get her to go with them, but she couldn't. If she saw Zach like that-knowing where he really was-

Jenny forced away that shudder, and got to her feet. She couldn't ignore the ache in her body, especially when her cheek was now burning from the raw, exposed skin. She really had hit it pretty hard. She should put some ice on it, to numb it. She wished she could put ice on her heart as well.

She didn't run home. The exhaustion had worn her down, completely, filling her mind with a disorienting fuzziness, just enough to distract her thoughts while she trudged home. The only thought her mind circled around was the prayer that her parents wouldn't bug her when she got there.

That's why apart of her was relieved to see the car not in the driveway. She was shocked, however, to see the person sitting on her doorstep.

She stopped when she saw him, the fog in her mind slowly draining at the realization that he was waiting for her. Tom was perched there, shoulders tensed and hunched, rubbing his cell phone between his palms. When he looked up at her, his face was pliant, those brown eyes firm and steady. He was mad. And for good reason. Jenny hadn't seen or talked to him in four whole days.

She was thankful she was covering her swollen cheek because she wouldn't know what to do if he tried to console her right now. Instead, she waited for a minute, standing down the walkway to her house, prepared for his anger. When he didn't say anything, she approached him, stopping to grab the key under the fake rock in the grass. If she wasn't so exhausted, maybe she would be in a better mood to deal with his anger.

He stood for her, lip quirking a bit, a tick he's had since sixth grade that showed his anxiety. "Your parents went to see Zach," he said coolly. "They said you were out for a run. Again." He said that last word tightly, knowingly.

Jenny knew she wasn't meeting his gaze, but she nodded anyway.

"I called you."

Jenny was prepared for that. "I left my phone-"

"Ten times. For the past few days-You could have sent me a text. Anything…"

She didn't respond. What could she tell him? She couldn't even look him in the eyes as he stood over her like this.

"Are you ok?" he asked, his tone gentler than before. "Honestly?"

No. She was far from ok-There was no magic in the world to make her Ok-

But Jenny just nodded again, and tried to move passed him. Too easily, he stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. Too easily, she could have avoided that. She knew he was going to do it, to look her in the eyes and try and fix everything with a smile, like Tom Locke always did. She allowed him to, too weak to fight him now-Too weak to even save her cousin-

He looked into her eyes, searching for her in those cypress green pools. She saw his frustration, then his confusion at the fact that she was still holding her cheek. He pried her hand off her cheek, which she fought at first, but there was no more strength left in her arms or her legs or her mind-

" _Jesus-_ "

"I'm fine," she dismissed it by pulling away and stepping for the door. "I just tripped while I was running."

"We need to get some ice on that."

For a second, something settled calmly inside Jenny at the fact that he said "we," but she said nothing on it. She opened the door, feeling him right on her heels as she went inside. He led her to the green living room couch, and set her down like she was some injured child who couldn't take care of herself. She had started to argue against it, but Tom didn't take it and immediately left to the kitchen for the ice pack. Jenny never did like it when Tom babied her like this, but she never could bring herself to stop him. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know she could fight any demon she came up against. But today, a part of Jenny was a bit thankful for his tentative care, for his concern over her. It gave her aching limbs a chance to relax, to stop fighting for once.

By the time Tom did return with the ice pack, she felt the wear in her muscles, the light in her blood, dragging all of her energy deep into the couch. She thanked him when he handed it to her, and placed it on her throbbing cheek as he sat beside her. Yet, he didn't interrogate her so fast like she figured. Instead he sat there for a minute, examining her, her greasy tangled hair, her sweaty skin, her tired eyes. God, she probably looked terrible.

"I was worried about you."

Immediately, Jenny was struck with a guilty sense. She looked at a him, doing her best to look apologetic when her blood felt like it was draining from her head to her toes. Those gentle brown eyes were as soft as ever, and Jenny realized he wasn't so much as mad at her, but a bit hurt.

"You wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't come to school. Audrey said you were fine-here, but-"

"I know," Jenny tried to stop him, but he went on.

"No, you don't." He then scooted closer to her, taking her free hand in his, cradling it, caressing it like she was fragile enough to break.

" _You're so frail and yet you don't even shatter."_

"I know this is hard, but...don't shut yourself away from me."

Jenny was trying to shake it off-The words fell plainly from her lips. "I'm not."

"Then look at me."

She had dropped her gaze, again. She was trying to pull off a smile, again, but it failed completely when she returned his gaze. How those gentle eyes alone had caught her, holding her together. Jenny remembered their first date, how nervous she had been, and yet so at ease with him. Safe, yes she felt safe with Tom.

Safe-Unsafe-Zach-

She didn't realize she was crying until the tears slipped under the ice pack, burning the raw skin from the wound. This time, she didn't try and hold them back. She was too exhausted to fight it anymore. It hurt. It hurt so bad and she wasn't ok and no one knew _why_ -

Tom had her in his arms instantly, nestling her head under his chin, supporting all of her weight on his chin. And Jenny allowed him to. She needed to feel safe again, to feel for a second that maybe everything would be ok in the end. Tom was shushing her, whispering in such a soft, comforting voice that instantly made all the aches in her body disappear.

"I know. I know. It's all right. We'll get through this. He's going to be ok."

Oh _no_.

Jenny only sobbed harder at that because Zach wasn't going to be ok. He was practically dead-Sworn to the demon of shadows and cruelty for a lifetime of punishment and torture-A life he chose, for her. It replayed in her head all over again, surfacing the terrible feelings in her chest that she had just numbed from running, and everyone just thought he was _sick_.

They sat like that for a long while, until Jenny's tears dried up and the sobs died away. Even in the silence, Tom still held her, rubbing her back, stroking her hair. How gentle he was with her-How passionate he was toward her. Jenny missed it. She had been distracted, by the games, by the runes-She almost had forgotten how much she really did care for Tom.

She remembered kissing Julian-Wildly, impossibly, and the guilt hit her like a freight train.

She didn't deserve Tom.

He was coaxing her head up now, trying to meet her swollen green eyes. When he did, he smiled that famous Tom Locke smile. Jenny allowed him to take the ice pack from her cheek, lowering her arm like some broken machine. Then he caressed her face between his hands and gave her the softest of kisses upon her forehead. The brush of skin against her sweaty forehead eased something in her. When he pulled away, Jenny leaned up to kiss him on the lips, tenderly. He kissed her back, slowly, once, just skin on skin. They kissed again, and something sparked in Jenny's blood-a benign foreign feeling she hadn't felt with Tom in a long while. She kissed him just a bit harder, reciprocating that feeling almost hesitantly, and Tom responded.

Then she was laid back on the couch, Tom above her, kissing her wistfully. There was a moment of hesitation, his concern for her cheek, but Jenny was pulling his head back down to her, reuniting their lips. Yes, she wanted this feeling-this light pleasure. They were kissing deeply, romantically, and when his body pressed against hers, Jenny felt the exhaustion in her body immediately replace with energy-adrenaline. She was grabbing at him, pushing against him, anything to feel him-this heat-this pleasure.

Forget the pain. Forget the fear. She had Tom to catch her right now, and she wanted nothing more than to fall.

Jenny wasn't thinking anymore. Just like when she was running, she only focused on this-on the feel of lips against hers, of the muscular body grinding against hers, of the high beginning to fill her blood. She _needed_ to-anything to take her mind of Zach, and-and-

Tom had been kissing her throat, peppering her neck with individual little love bites, when he suddenly jerked up. Jenny didn't think anything on it, until she opened her eyes and saw the look of pure shock on his face. She tried to decode it when her brain felt fuzzy with need and heat, watching those brown eyes coax through shock, then confusion, then a bit of...anger.

"Did you….?"

His question died, and Jenny realized through her frantic breaths that she had said something-earlier-during this rapidly proceeding make-out session. It still didn't make any sense until Tom sat up, pulling away from, and said, "Who's Julian?"

Jenny's heart failed.

It really did. It felt like it stopped beating altogether, choking her, killing her. She couldn't even gasp. it came to her-the realization that she had said a name, a name that wasn't Tom's as she was kissing him- She had to swallow something tough as the fog cleared from her mind and-Good **God** what had she done?

She was covering her mouth, eyes wide with the realization-but-wait-No-

Tom completely stood now, making Jenny sit up in a flash. "You seriously just said someone-"

"No-I-I didn't-"

"I _heard_ you say it. Who's Julian?"

" _No one_ , I swear. Tom-"

She reached for him, but he stepped away, the hurt and anger twice as bad as before.

"Is there someone else?"

" _No_ , I didn't mean to. I swear, there's no one."

"Then why would you say that? Who's Julian?"

"Tom-"

" _Who's Julian_?"

" **I don't know**!"

But he was still asking her, voice getting louder and louder. Jenny ran. She actually leapt from the couch, diving into the kitchen. It was back. The hurt, the fear, the anxiety, the guilt-All of it came crashing back in excruciating waves. Of course, Tom followed her, a bit of desperation in his voice as he asked her for an answer-one Jenny didn't have. She couldn't think-Instincts failing her. She didn't know what to do. When Tom grabbed her, tried to get her to turn around, Jenny smacked him away **harshly**.

A foreign noise broke the argument. It was shrill and quick. Jenny's mess of a mind didn't recognize it at first.

The phone.

Jenny looked to the kitchen phone hanging on the wall between them. It rang once, twice more, breaking the silence in the air almost too well. Jenny was just staring at it, dumbstruck.

"Are you going to answer it or not?" Tom asked. He was watching her tensely, furiously.

Oh.

Jenny snatched the phone. It was probably what Tom didn't want her to do, but it was her only excuse for time-to think-to sort out the mess of feelings and thoughts and runes and realizations-

"Hello? Mom-Wait, what? Whoa, Mom slow down."

There was no way for Jenny to decode her mother's frantic voice on the other line, not now. Especially when Tom moved closer, his anger replaced with immediate concern.

"I just can't believe it, honey-You have to get down here right now-Everyone's already here-"

"Mom, what are you _talking_ about?"

She answered Jenny, and for a moment Jenny seemed to lose time. She was dreaming. No, a nightmare. Maybe she was dead. Because everything that was happening, for this-It was impossible.

But Tom was grabbing her shoulders, and she felt his grip. She felt the pain of her cheek and the burning of the words in her mind, and heard the clanking of plastic as she dropped the phone.

"Jenny, what _is_ it?" He was questioning roughly, and it was through his concern that Jenny noticed her jaw was open, eyes wide. She forced her mouth to move.

"Zach's…..awake…."

* * *

When Zach woke up, it was abrupt, almost painful. His parents had been there when the machines went haywire, then the air rushed to his lungs in a terrible gasp. It took a while for everything to come to for him, to blink his eyes and adjust to the bright light. But the hands on his face and the familiar voices were what settled the fear for a minute. He saw his mother's face, leaning over the side of the bed. His aunt was on the other side, and his father was screaming out the door for a nurse. It was still a bit blurry, but he felt his aunt grab his hand. He felt the gentle pressure against his tingling fingers. He felt the warm brush of his mother's lips against his forehead. They were all crying; all smiling and wide-eyed and relieved. It was comforting.

Before the panic peaked.

He thrashed. He screamed. He fought away the touches, the warmth, the comfort-Because it wasn't real. It _couldn't_ be real. So many hallucinations-So many visions of pain and death-He didn't want to see them like this, to sit here, numb and weak, and watch them die again. He didn't want the fear to get back to him, not again.

No one understood, of course. His frantic shouts and cries were nonsense. They only stopped when the doctor gave him a shot to calm down. Only then was Zach forced to lay there, again, and watch the horror come again.

But…it didn't.

The pain settled away. The warmth came back into his blood, returning the feeling in his toes and legs and arms and face. He breathed _deeply_ , and he could feel it in his lungs-could smell the crisp sterile scent of the hospital room around him. He was breathing normally, and his heart was beating steady and he was…. _alive_.

It took him a long time to accept the fact that he was out of the trap, unless the Shadow Men were really upping their game here. But his mother hugged him, and he felt it, and he relied on that touch. It was after a couple more hours that he saw the four adults together again, and they all hugged him and touched him and cried. The doctor checked his brain, another doctor asked him some questions, which were very difficult for him to answer without exposing the fact that he had been in a dimensional life or death game with some demons.

The lines were…fuzzy. Which wasn't anything new for Zach. There was point A and point B, but the middle, the journey, the reasoning, was numbed. Probably from the medicine. Which was fine, for now. He allowed himself to float there in that numbness between the lines, looking for reality, for the trick. And he found it; at least he told himself he did, when he saw Jenny.

He had been alone in his room, after another test and some food, when the nurse asked if he'd like company. He was expecting his parents, and aunt and uncle, but the first person through the door was small and blonde and doll-like.

"Zach!"

Summer threw herself on him, squeezing his chest as tight as her tiny arms would let her, and her sobs were staining his gown immediately. Then there was Dee and Michael and Audrey, and Tom. Hell, they all walked in like it was the most causal thing ever. They approached him slowly, too, giving his mind a minute to accept the fact that they were there, all of them, okay and smiling, and so unaware of the truth.

"You scared us there, buddy," Tom said, patting his hand sympathetically.

"Glad you're okay," Dee said with a quick hug over Summer's head, which was still buried in Zach's neck.

Eventually they pulled Summer off him, and it was the relief on her face that gave Zach the strength to actually say something. "I-Uh…Thanks. Guys…"

Audrey came over to the other side of the bed with Michael, asking, "How are you feeling?"

"They say you hit your head pretty hard."

"Do you remember anything?"

Zach was still taking it in, still trying to accept everything, that the mere thought of trying to come up with a coherent answer for that question was impossible at the moment. He still tried, however, to come up with something, anything to say.

Yet, something moved behind everyone, where he looked and saw Jenny.

She was standing outside the doorway, and by the tension in her shoulders she had probably been there for a while. But now she stepped in, just enough to see him through the circle of friends around his bed, and stopped.

And it was there, meeting her gaze, that Zach truly believed that he was out of the game-of the trap.

For Jenny, it seemed to be the opposite. A long moment passed where she struggled with the reality that her cousin was there, in the hospital bed a mere five feet from her, considering the last she saw him he was weak and frightened and-

But he was there. Her friends were there, looking over their shoulders at her almost sympathetically, waiting in silence for her reaction. And Zach-Oh, his entire being just froze in place. All the features in his face dropped, relaxed, into a far-off stare, and- _There_. In his gaze, Jenny saw it. The realization. The utter shock at the fact that they were now face to face after what happened-what he had done. Jenny saw it, and she knew immediately, just from that look alone, that Zach remembered **everything**.

Her legs were moving before she knew it. Zach's eyes widened when she approached him so fast, and he tried to call for her in the same tone he used to convince her to go home without him. "Jenny, wait-"

The smack very well could have echoed through the whole hospital. Jenny slapped him so hard that he fell from the sitting position he was in, head sent back to his bed in such a forceful, painful move. There was a moment of confusion among everyone, then the commotion burst like a gun shot. Dee and Tom grabbed Jenny immediately, forcing her back when she tried to get at him, while Summer was at Zach's side.

"You _bastard_ ," Jenny was screaming. "How could you? _How could you_?!"

Everyone was shouting now. Their friends desperately tried to keep Jenny back, to get her fury under control. Zach sat up in shock, holding his reddened cheek, looking back to her like she was one of his hallucinations. Audrey almost left to get a nurse, but Tom stopped her merely out of fear. Then he yanked Jenny off her feet, snatching her by the waist to try and get her attention-

But with a twist and a quick jab of her elbow, Jenny was free. She planted herself at the end of Zach's bed, gripping the bed frame so tight that her scars threatened to reopen.

"You-You-You coward," she was spitting. "You made me leave you there-What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?!"

Dee had to intervene them now since Tom was standing behind his girlfriend, body still from the shock, holding his side as he looked at the back of jenny's head like it was someone else. Dee put a hand on Jenny's chest, trying to ease her back, but Jenny didn't budge. "Jenny, _calm down_ ," she said firmly. "What are you talking about?"

But Jenny smacked her off. She kept her furious gaze on her cousin, who remained frozen, shocked, on the bed. "Are you gonna give me an explanation-No, hold on. I don't want to hear it." She tried to come around the bed now, where Audrey and Michael were there to keep her back, snapping quickly, "I don't want to hear your excuses-"

"Jenny, stop," Zach finally said. He tried to sit up better now, to meet her wild gaze. "Please-"

" **No -** No, you don't get to-to act like everything's okay. Not after what you've done."

Tom grabbed her again, this time by the arm, forcing her gaze to meet his, but even though those cypress green pools were looking into his, he knew they were anything but actually looking _at_ him. Unlike minutes before, back on her couch. "What are you _talking_ about?" he asked carefully. "You're not making any sense-"

Jenny ripped herself away, yet again. Zach beat her before she could say something else. "Look, not here."

"Oh, oh, then _where_ , Zach?" She heard her tone, unrelenting and mocking, but she didn't care. She let the words fly faster than bullets-faster than runes. " _Now_ you want to go home? Now you want to come back with me? Like everything is just hunky dory!"

Her friends continued to butt-in. "Jenny, just stop for a second."

"We don't have to do this-" Zach started, before jenny interrupted him.

"You _sacrificed_ yourself!" That shout seemed to be the one to do it, because then her friends stopped. One by one they seemed to sit back, and realize that whatever was happening-whatever the real problem was here, it was something way beyond their control.

Jenny took a second to catch her breath before continuing. "I went there to _save_ you, and-and you pushed me away. You sent me home. _You_ -" Something painful crossed Jenny's face, enough to make her grimace, and shake her head. "You gave up."

There was a moment where the words hung in the air, where Zach was forced to accept them. It washed over him like a poison, just as harsh as his delusions back in the game.

Summer was the only one to speak again. "Zach," she called softly, "what is she talking about?"

Zach stared at her for a long moment, before he looked to all of his friends, fully taking in the fact that this conversation-the one that was never to happen-was happening right now, in front of them all.

"Tell them, Zach." Jenny was surprised she said it. It didn't sound like her anymore-Her voice, so cold. "Tell them what I'm _talking_ about."

"Jenny-"

"Because I'm _done_ with hiding, Zach. I won't do it-Not anymore. Not after this."

"We **can't** ," Zach finally stressed. "Just stop for a minute and think about what-"

"Think about what? Think about the things I killed to get you back? The games I played-The days I spent _hating_ myself for leaving you there because you were too scared to come back-"

"Okay, okay," Dee stepped between them again. "Whatever it is between you two, maybe it should wait until later?"

"Yeah, Zach just woke up from a coma…"

Jenny didn't realize she was breathing so hard until the stillness of the air came to her, how intense each one of her breaths was breaking the silence. The touch came to her arm, gentle enough to shock her. Tom was there, being very cautious, eyebrows raised in a pleading gesture. Jenny knew what was happening. She knew how-how crazy this looked-It was always crazy; all the times she imagined this conversation happening-

Oh, but never like this.

Zach looked at Jenny with a look that was so very desperate-begging with his eyes that they would talk later, alone, away from their friends-where he could spit her a bunch of lies, to try and make her understand his betrayal, to curse her for her actions. They'd make up, they'd explain all the questions, lie to her friends again, to make her stop the hunting ways _again_ -

But Jenny wouldn't hear it. She knew right now she wouldn't be able to take whatever he was going to tell her. She wouldn't be able to explain what she had done, why she had done it. She wouldn't be able to take coming up with a lie to tell her friends _again_.

So when Tom gently tried to pull her away, to ease her off, Jenny didn't let him. She held her cousin's gaze the same cruel, fierce way Julian had held hers after she stabbed him, and said, "We're Hunters."

" _Jenny_!"

"We're demon hunters," She snapped so fast that her words were blending together. "We've been hunting them since we were five years old-Because of our Grandfather-"

Zach actually tried to get out of the bed now, but Jenny only got louder when he yelled, "Stop!"

"He taught us spells and tricks and tactics to kill Shadow Men-A demon that controls fear-And _Zach_ -gave himself over to one **because he couldn't summon the strength to fight his fear** -"

"Shut up!"

"And I played a game to get him back but he made me leave him there, stuck in a constant nightmare-"

"I did it _for you_!"

"No you did it **for yourself** ," Jenny stressed. She came around his bed to stare him in the face, like he did to her before he pushed her through the threshold. "You didn't want to face your fear, so you chose to stay and hide. And you used me to do it."

The silence was _mutiny_.

For a long time, they sat there, staring at each other, while their friends could only stand there and watch in shock. Jenny didn't like it. She was dreaming. She had to be. Oh, but the pain in her cousin's eyes was all too vivid. She turned to leave, before it could get any worse.

That's when Zach snapped, "I can't control it."

That stopped Jenny, for just a second.

Among all their friends, he admitted in a very level tone, "I-I can't…keep it under control anymore. I would rather give myself over to a demon than hurt you. Or anyone else."

Jenny knew that. She knew what this was. This was his plea. This was his final way of admitting his problem-of asking for help.

Only he had done it too late.

Because as much as Jenny hated herself, she left her cousin there without another word, just like he made her do before.

* * *

Jenny woke up to her phone ringing.

The sudden music had broken her from whatever horrible nightmare she had been in, erupting her mind from the confined darkness with a jolt. She sat up, fast, hands breaking free from her blankets ready to defend herself; but the plainness of her bedroom, the flowers from her windowsill, the plain Jean-Claude comforter, made her instincts crumple in on themselves. Jenny spotted her cell phone, resting on the small table beside her bed, and recognized the name on the screen.

As her mind came to, Jenny slowly settled back into herself, allowing her arms to drop back to her lap. Slowly, she laid back down, turned on her side, and watched as her phone rang, and rang, and rang. She finally took a breath when it stopped, knowing she wouldn't have been able to answer it, no matter what. Especially not today.

Jenny was really not ready for today.

Ten days. Ten days since she stabbed Julian. Ten days since she left the Shadow World. Six days since she confronted Zach in the hospital. Six whole days since she'd seen her friends, or talk to them or Hell, even left her house. She had heard the speech from her parents two days ago, and Jenny had acted on her best behavior to keep their concerns away. Like it mattered. Everyone in her family was too relieved from the fact that Zach was awake from a coma and showing no negative signs of recovery to be worried how fast Jenny was spiraling out of control. But Jenny was good at putting up a front. Her grandfather hadn't put her and Zach through hell to watch them flinch at everything that was thrown at them. Jenny always condoned on how quickly she held her own, how easily she could hide her fears.

These last six days, however, were pushing her acting skills, really challenging Jenny on how well she could smile at her parents like she wasn't dying inside. Today would challenge her most of all.

So Jenny buried herself in her covers, doing her best to prepare herself. She could act sick, yes. She was smart enough to save that lie for today. Pretend to throw up in the bathroom so her parents would leave her alone. Then maybe she could pass the day by watching a movie on the couch with them. No cake. No presents, no _party_. Just…nothing.

But then her phone went off again.

Jenny sat up now to look down at the ringing phone carefully. It was Audrey, again. Well, she was a persistent woman. It's no wonder she would call more than once, back to back. But today, after what happened…

Jenny reached over and turned the phone off. She should've broken it the other day when her mother questioned why she didn't have her phone with her. She should've came up with a better lie than her and Tom were arguing-Ah, but then she'd risk the chance of getting a new one as a present. Jenny didn't want that. She didn't want _anything_ anymore. She just wanted to be alone. She deserved to be alone.

That thought made something terrible ache in her mind, spurring a throb in her temples that Jenny had to cradle.

She moved to get up, maybe get dressed, start her lie of feeling sick. Only when she swung her legs off the bed, she was face to face with her closet. The door was propped open with a shoe to hide the runes that were carved in the wall on that side. The other side was pinned with posters and hangers of clothes and blankets Jenny had "creatively" decorated to hide the rest of the bloody runes in the wall. It was all Jenny cold think to do after everything. She could try and scratch the runes out, paint over them when her parents weren't home, but Jenny really hadn't found the strength to. Especially after Zach…

But now she was left staring into her open closet every day, seeing the closed floorboard that hid the contents of her life again, seeing the spots she had cleaned from the all the blood that had been on her the day she came back-It was a dark hole to her now, just as it had been when she activated the portal to the Shadow World, a vast, cold, cruel reminder.

She really wasn't ready for today.

" _Doesn't matter if you're ready,"_ her grandfather's voice echoed in the back of her mind. _"Shadow Men are not going to wait for you to square up."_

So Jenny got up. She changed into a plain shirt and jeans, brushed her hair, and put it up into a ponytail. Then, on second thought, she took it down, brushed it to the side and let it drape over her shoulder in a sheen of blonde. Seeing her reflection like this, with her hair pushed out of the way to expose her neck, she immediately remembered the trick in the mirror from the Maze-how she shivered from the kisses Julian's image left on her skin-

Jenny moved her hair so it lay simply across her back, and left the room.

She heard her parents downstairs, talking about something as they shuffled around in the kitchen. Jenny was simultaneously praying there wasn't a huge breakfast laid out for her, and thinking of a way to appear ill as she slowly made her way to the kitchen. She hadn't even reached the room yet when she smelled the toast, and dread fill her.

However, there was no breakfast. Thankfully, there was no huge feast or balloons or-God forbid-a party. Her mother, with her similar blonde hair, was fixing her make up in the corner, while her father was tying his shoes on one of the kitchen chairs. Jenny was surprised to find them dressed, prepared to leave.

"Oh, sweet-heart!" Her mother's face lit up upon seeing her, where she then approached Jenny and gave her a quick hug. "I was just about to call for you."

"Oh, uh why?" Jenny asked, but was distracted when her father came over and gave Jenny a kiss on the forehead.

"Happy Birthday, honey."

"Thank you, Dad. It's just- "

"We left you some breakfast," her mother interrupted as she pulled away. "We know you have a busy day, so we're going to visit Zach at your Uncle's today, and we'll see you at dinner, alright?"

Jenny couldn't keep up, especially when her mother was grabbing her purse, her father grabbing the car keys. "Wait, what?"

Her father answered, "Audrey's already here to pick you up."

Jenny's heart failed.

"Really, I thought you'd be dressed by now," her mother prodded.

Jenny could only stand there for a second before she forced her legs to move. She ran to the front door, threw it open, where Audrey really was there. She had her phone glued to her ear, next to the bug-eyed sunglasses she had on. She was wearing a cute mini skirt, and a matching polka dot shirt.

"God, finally," Audrey snapped as she hung up the phone. "I've been calling you all morning!"

Jenny was just staring, unable to process-to realize-

"C'mon," Audrey snapped as she snatched Jenny by the wrist and dragged her outside. "I need your help."

"Whoa, hold on. What?"

But Audrey didn't stop, and continued to drag her towards the Bug parked on the street, explaining, "You can't stay in your room forever. So I lied to your parents saying we have plans for your birthday-And before you go ballistic, relax. Michael's making me move his old couch from his living room. I need your help getting his butt off of it first."

For a moment, Jenny actually thought she was dreaming. Because the next thing she knew, she was in the passenger seat of Audrey's car, unable to have fought her way out of it. Well, she really could have, but to physically fight one of her friends-There was no way. The ride to Michael's was in awkward silence, filled only by the radio.

Jenny was thinking of something-desperately searching for _anything_ to say, but what the hell do you say to your friends after you told them the one thing you were never supposed to tell them, during a fight with your sick/betraying cousin, after lying to them for all of your life?

Thankfully, Audrey broke the silence first, but of all things to say, she said, "Tom thinks you're dead, you know." Jenny looked to her as the words pierced her like knives. Audrey scoffed, without taking her eyes off the road, "Oh, relax, Jenny. I'm only joking. He's fine. We all are. We just don't want you hiding from us. Especially on your birthday."

Jenny tried to relax, she really did, but arriving at Michael's only made her feel worse. She was too nervous, too _guilty_. It had been six whole days since she last seen them, nevertheless talked to them. The last they saw of her, she had screamed their secrets out for the whole hospital to hear, then left, without explaining _anything_. That's why she hesitated when Audrey moved to get out of the car.

"Um, Audrey, I-"

"Ah, ah, no buts. If I have to do this, so do you. Come on, come on. The faster we get this over with, the faster I can get back to my manicure."

Well that was Audrey for you. Jenny reluctantly followed, or more so dragged herself to follow Audrey up the apartment stairs. "Why didn't you ask Dee for help?" she asked merely to ease the dense ball of anxiety growing in her chest.

Audrey only barked a laugh. "Are you kidding?"

At least that response gave Jenny a bit of ease. "Ok, true. It's just…hard to believe you're going to do some _physical labor_ for Michael."

"Oh, I'm not lifting anything." Audrey practically sang as they reached the top of the stairs, to the one apartment door that stood more like a headache waiting to happen for Jenny. "If he thinks I'm going to lift a couch when all I have to do is lift a finger to call a moving company, he's got another thing coming."

Jenny was beginning on a response when Audrey opened the door and basically ran inside.

Now, Jenny pried on her old instincts. She had been trained for years to see lots of things coming. That's why she was genuinely surprised when she walked into the apartment to see all five of her friends waiting for her. Summer blew one of those cheap party favor horns. Michael was holding a present. Dee was holding a cake, complete with her name written in frosting on the top. Audrey was standing smug in the middle while Tom was quiet in the back.

"Surprise!"

"Happy Birthday, Jenny!"

Jenny meddled in the shock for a moment until Summer ran over, and hugged her. That was when Jenny forced herself to come to, to relax, and she was able to put on a smile-No matter how hard it was. "Oh, God, guys. You didn't have to do this."

Dee rolled her eyes as she set the cake on the coffee table which Summer pulled Jenny over to by the hand. "Oh, you say that every year. Just accept it and sit down already."

But Jenny didn't. She hesitated. Even though the number one rule was not to, she was pulling out of Summer's grip, mouth open, to protest, uncertainty probably all over her face. "Uh, but…"

There was the awkward pause Jenny was waiting for. It was her worst fear-them rejecting her, hating her for lying to them, for what she was. And yet, they all still smiled at her.

Audrey cleared it up, as bright as day, so simply, with, "Jenny, you're still our friend."

"What," Dee added, "are we supposed to hate you because you're a badass?"

"I actually think that's a modern flaw in society," Michael rambled on. "Our generation is so closed off; we don't like change so we discriminate. Oh, but not us. I mean, we don't hate you or anything-"

"Stop talking, dear."

Jenny actually couldn't believe it. Out of all the times she imagined telling them, every time she pictured their reactions-their hate-she never imagined this. And now she cursed herself for it, for ever having doubt in her friends-in those who had accepted the human side of her all this time, for not ever believing they would accept the hunter side of her life. It was almost too sweet. Jenny had to bite back the tears, honestly. There were a lot of runes and spells out there in the dimensions, but none of them could fix emotions-relationships- _feelings_. That, Jenny realized, was the area she needed more practice in.

Because of that, Jenny had to cover her mouth to keep the tears back. Summer saw it first, and immediately returned to wrapping her small arms around Jenny. "Please, don't cry, Jenny. We still love you."

Her voice trembled, but she didn't cry-she refused to. "I'm sorry," she mumbled through her hands. "Guys, I'm so sorry I never told you. I-I-"

"We know," Dee cut her off with a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's not something you can exactly bring up in a casual conversation."

"Now I know how you aced P.E so easily," Michael said it sheepishly, and Jenny actually choked out a laugh from it-An honest, relieved laugh. With a few chuckles her friends gave, too, Jenny felt the tension disappear. Like her headache had magically vanished, the fear was gone; the concern, the anxiety practically never existed. She didn't have to cut her finger to make it happen either, and something Jenny was immensely relieved at.

Even Tom in the back met her gaze and gave her a soft smile.

"All right," Audrey snapped dryly, "this has gotten way too depressing. We're having a _party_ guys! Michael, go get the chips. I'm starving."

"What about the cake?"

"Well someone forgot candles so we can't exactly sing."

"But we still have the board game!"

Jenny could only heave a weak laugh as her friends bickered to have everything perfect. It was always like this. Jenny remembered for Tom's last birthday, Dee had burned the food and Jenny couldn't find a proper board game for them to play at their standard hangout. She remembered the arguments and the stress, and how easily it went away when they went out for ice cream and a movie instead.

She felt the same tension fade when she sat down on the couch in front of the cake. "I can do without the singing, guys. But thank you."

Summer whined, and Audrey sighed in relief as she sat beside her. Michael handed Jenny the present, which was a nice blue bag stuffed with tissue paper. He said, "I think I have Life in the closet somewhere."

"Oh my God, Michael. Seriously?"

"Of _all_ the games-"

"What? I'm sorry!"

Jenny just smiled as her friends all gathered around her on the couches and chairs. Tom started cutting the cake while Dee passed out plates, and Summer ran to go get sodas.

"Well, how about a movie?" Dee asked. Jenny did ponder that as she lifted the bag up, feeling its weight, like a child to a gift from under the Christmas tree. She had planned on passing the day with a movie….

"Actually," Audrey said as she fixed her hair, "I'd like to hear about the magic you used, Jenny."

Jenny dropped the present, creating a loud _thunk_ on the carpet.

"Audrey!"

"Oh no, did it break?"

"What?" Audrey shrugged as she took a soda from Summer's arms. "My father told me a lot of stories about dark magic."

Dee was immediately in the redhead's face, hissing, "You can't just _do_ that. Jenny shouldn't have to-"

"No." Jenny had to take a second to gather herself. She picked up the present rather cautiously, cradled it on her lap for a moment longer. Tom was kneeling on the floor across the table from her, stopped midway from cutting the cake. He was looking up at her a bit surprised. Summer looked concerned, standing behind him with an armful of soda bottles. Michael looked nervous off to the side. It was staring at their faces that Jenny realized things could somehow go back to the way things were. They could all act like her secret was never revealed, and all would be well. Or…

"It's ok," Jenny finally said. She had to clear her throat, and it took her a minute to find the right words, but she answered her friends. "I, uh….I was using runes. From Norse mythology….Those required blood indications." Then with a bit of bravery her Grandfather always praised her on, Jenny showed them her scared hands. "That's how I got these scars."

Summer was the one to look closer, nose wrinkling in confusion. "You didn't fall?"

Jenny swallowed. "No. I lied. I needed blood to use the runes."

"Against-" Michael's voice cut short for a second. "Against…demons?"

Oh that was a bit more complicated to answer. Jenny was thinking of how to clarify when Audrey grabbed her hand, scowling at her palm. "Wait, that's not Norse, is it?"

She was referring to the protection symbol on her palm, which was still puffy from last week. "No," she answered a bit too easily. "It's Egyptian."

"Egyptian?" Dee asked.

"Yes."

"Why Egyptian?" Michael followed.

"Because Shadow Men's power comes from the shadows. Egyptian power source is light-the sun. It…cancels it out."

"And Shadow Men are…demons? Like, real demons?"

"Yes."

"And you could fight one?"

"Yes."

"That's…. cool!"

Oddly enough it was.

For the next hour or so, they sat like that, all huddled around Jenny like she was some cultural storyteller. They asked her all the questions in the world, and she answered them honestly. She told them about the spells, the tricks, and the games. She showed them her ring and described the knives and powders, which Dee was very curious to see. She told them about her training which Michael winced at the amount of exercise. She explained everything, and they nodded, and smiled, and joked. And laughed.

It was actually an enjoyable party. For once, as Jenny sat in their standard kick-back party scenario, eating cake and junk food, she honestly felt…herself. To dwell in the other side of in this human casual setting, with her friends, made her feel more whole-like the two halves had begun to touch together. It was **wonderful.**

At some point, Tom came and sat at the end of the coffee table, still on the floor, with Summer separating him from Jenny on the couch. It was a silent move, but Jenny noticed it immediately. She felt Tom's foot brush against hers under the table, where it stayed. She had to swallow her sigh of relief, until her phone went off.

She had almost forgotten she had brought it on Mom's orders. Thus, she checked it without a word while Dee and Audrey were beginning an argument over something stupid. Jenny had to blink twice, however, at the name on the screen, to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

Zach.

She hesitated, then hung up on the call and put it back in her pocket. Talking to him was the _last_ thing she wanted to do today. Even if he wanted to apologize or wish her a happy birthday. She tried to brush it off as Michael separated the two arguing girls, but then it went off again. This time, Summer noticed.

"Is someone calling you?"

"Telemarketer," Jenny lied and hung up again. "Where were we?"

"Audrey thinks she can cook better than me."

"I _know_ , I can."

"Oh, in your dreams!"

"Why don't we just order pizza?"

Jenny's phone went off for the third time, sparking annoyance in her as she hung up again. She flinched, didn't mean to, when Tom reached over and grabbed her hand. "Jenny, what do _you_ want to do for dinner? It's your birthday."

His touch was warm. Enough to make Jenny reel from it, at the fact that he didn't hate her-was _talking_ to her.

"Dinner's not for a while anyway."

"Yean, but poor Audrey has to micromanage everything."

That's when Audrey's familiar ringtone went off from her pocket, but she was too heated in the conversation to notice. "There's no way I'm going to let Deidre cook for me. She'll give me food poisoning."

"Okay, guys. Birthday? Remember, no fighting."

But the arguing, nevertheless what should be for dinner, was the last thing on jenny's mind. "Audrey, who just called you?"

"Maybe it was Deidre's IQ."

"You're a child."

"Enough ladies," Michael said, "or I'll have Jenny use some magic on you."

But the attempt as dismissive humor failed when Michael's home phone rang, echoing from the kitchen. Jenny's attention immediately snapped to the archway behind them. Her gut sank anxiously.

Michael sighed and got to his feet. "I'll get it. Can someone cut me another slice of cake?"

"Hey, Jenny, maybe it's the same telemarketer who called you," Summer giggled.

"Oh, we should prank them!"

Jenny returned her attention to Tom's hand, to its warmth, its weight over hers. She grabbed it, ignoring the twinge in her palm from the healing scar. Zach probably wanted to talk. He had to have been released from the hospital by now. He was probably worried, maybe to apologize. It was just that. Nothing was wrong.

But when Michael returned to the living room, mouth turned down, big brown eyes wide with surprise, and Jenny felt her instincts kick her in the butt.

"Uh, Jenny?" he said nervously. "It's Zach."

There was a moment where everyone was very, very still.

"Zach?" Dee asked. "Why is he calling?"

Summer cried, "Tell him I say hi!"

Michael was clearly uncomfortable as he shifted a bit in place, holding his hand over the receiver of the phone. "He, uh, says he really needs to talk to you."

Thankfully Tom answered for Jenny, giving her hand a squeeze. "Michael, I don't think now is the best time."

Michael went to say something on it, then decided otherwise and went back into the kitchen. The tension, unfortunately, was back.

"Did Zach do something bad?"

"Summer, don't."

"Yes," Jenny answered a bit harshly, her eyes still on the archway of the kitchen. "He did." She finally turned away, but the scowl was on her face-remembering the argument they had in the hospital-the one they had between the dimensions. She inevitably squeezed Tom's hand harder.

That was his cue. Tom squeezed back as he sat up straighter, clearing his throat. "Why don't we just-"

"It doesn't sound like he's letting Michael go," Dee interrupted, neck bent to peer around the kitchen archway.

"Maybe he wants to apologize," Summer suggested.

"I don't care," Jenny felt the snap break loose from her lips. "He…."

"He did something with the demons," Audrey said carefully. "That's what you said at the hospital-"

"Audrey."

"No, I think we should know. It's a girl's rule to hate whoever our friends hate. Even family."

Jenny didn't want to. Things had been going so well-so _perfect_ and he was-She heard Michael trying to stall him in the kitchen, his desperate rambling to get him off the phone, and it only made the anxiety worse. The fact that he had the nerve to call all over the place to get to her, to put her friends through this on her birthday-

"He gave up," she said firmly. "We were fighting a Shadow Man, and he gave up. I went there to save him-"

"Where?"

"The Shadow World. It's where Shadow Men are created and-It's somewhere very, very dangerous, and he made me leave him there."

" _What_? Why?"

Jenny scoffed at the very same question and ripped herself away from Tom's hand to cross her arms fiercely across her chest. "Ask him that."

Summer started to say something, but then Michael was back, looking like a Cocker-Spaniel puppy with his tail between its legs. "Uh, Jenny. I'm sorry. I-I don't know what to do. H-He won't get off-"

"Michael, just hang up on him."

"N-No, that's rude! I-I-"

Tom moved, probably to take the phone for Jenny to save her from the confrontation, but Jenny was on her feet and around the couch in the next second. She snatched the phone a bit roughly from Michael's hand and answered harshly. " **What**?"

"You need to come home."

The fury immediately sparked. It took everything in jenny to control her voice. "We're not doing this."

"No, just-"

"No, you don't get to do this. To call around-"

"It's not-not-You have to come back. Listen-"

"I don't _want_ to listen to you. All right? So stop calling-"

But his voice got louder, more frantic. "No- **No** , it's not _right_. It-It doesn't make sense. The rules-"

"Zach, please. I Don't want to-"

"You don't understand. How did I get _home_?!"

Jenny stopped. It sunk in slowly, the fact that she never thought about-How he-

"You mean...you didn't-?"

"I don't remember. I-I didn't do anything. I was there, then he was there, then-then I was in the hospital. We didn't even talk-I'm just... _here_."

It was there, in his tone of voice, where jenny could hear his fear. She felt it, in the slightest tremble, at the horrible thought that maybe he _wasn't_ here, that this was all just another hallucination and something terrible was going to happen.

Jenny tightened her tone, sounding firm and strong again. "Stop, Zach. You're home, all right? Stop thinking like that. I **swear** to you, on _Pethro_ , you're here."

There was a slight pause where Zach seemed to be processing this, and Jenny was about to start scolding him again, to force him to accept this if he didn't start talking to her. But he did.

"Then...he gave me back?"

That thought made the room spin. Jenny finally noticed her friends, all eyes on her, and the slight concern in their eyes. She put her back to them, crossed the room over to the front door to ease the tension.

"No," she answered firmly. "He wouldn't do that. Why would he do that?"

"Then what else is it? I didn't escape. I didn't make a deal. Somethings wrong."

Jenny started to argue with him but now Zach's voice hardened, a whole new fear taking over his voice. One that channeled enough anxiety to become anger. "What was your game? What were the rules?"

Jenny could've sighed but now the concern was getting to her, her instincts buzzing like a warning in the back of her mind. "Uh, there were rounds. Four rounds. I had to win them to get you back."

"Did you?"

"What?"

"Did you win the game?!" Zach all but screamed at her, enough to make Jenny raise her voice as well.

"No I cheated! I trapped him and got to you before you sent me back-"

"How did you cheat?"

"Zach-"

"How?!"

"I made a deal with him! Ok? Look, its over. It doesn't mat-"

Zach was still shouting at her, that something was wrong, where was she, how did she win, but Jenny didn't catch it because it hit her. She realized why her instincts were alive, why Zach was home.

The deal. The deal she made with Julian before she cheated; if she lost Zach, then she was supposed to be his-she'd forfeit. But if she won, if she got Zach back to Earth-He gave Zach **back** -

Jenny's hands went numb as the realization came out in a breathless mutter, "He gave himself the right to come to Earth."

That's when Summer screamed.

The lights snapped out. Chaos broke through the living room with crashes and girly cries. Zach was shouting through the phone only to be cut off by the dial tone. Tom had Jenny in his arms immediately, but Jenny was already fighting him off because she saw it-Her instincts were alive, her eyes adjusted to the lack of light just in time to see Summer hit the floor.

And be dragged down the hallway.

Jenny jumped after her in a flash, sprinting and diving down that hallway just in time to snatch Summer's hands that were clawing at the ground to stop herself. Jenny dug her knees into the ground and pulled on the small blonde, forcing her to a stop.

The thing that had Summer's feet matched the shadows perfectly-No, it was _made_ of shadows. The image playing like a trick of the eye-like a 3D manifestation of shadows and energy. Immediately, Jenny recognized the shape of a wolf, with beady soul-piercing red eyes, and jaws so big that both of Summer's thin ankles sat in them effortlessly. It was the thing that only existed in nightmares-the thing that's always chasing you, going to kill you, but you never see it. It was pure fear; cruelty with a shape. And it was staring Jenny down from two feet away.

It let out a mind-numbing growl, striking fear in Jenny's heart. She hesitated-

Then it released Summer's ankles, and made a dive for Summer's head. Jenny's quickest reaction was to snap out her arm, shoving it between the creature's jaws to protect Summer. The pain was immediate, as the jaws snapped around her arm harshly, and it echoed in the back of Jenny's mind.

She cut off her own scream by shouting the first Egyptian rune she could think of. The Shadow Wolf only responded by thrashing its head, jerking Jenny's arm, shredding the skin. Jenny literally had to throw herself on top of Summer, who was now curled in on herself, cradling her ankles, sobbing. Jenny rammed her heel into the jaws just above her arm at the same time she snapped, " _Djew!_ "

There was a harsh rip in the atmosphere, and the demon released her. Jenny saw the shadows gather ahead of her, like a tsunami wave about to crash on her with the Shadow Wolf as its center piece. For some, in the narrow space of the dark hall, and with the pain from her open bloody forearm, it would be the final straw. They'd pass out. They'd _die_. For a Shadow Man Hunter, it was enough leverage to take the offense, and see passed the threat.

Jenny jumped up to her feet right as it pounced at her. She swung her leg out swiftly, and shouted, " _Dagaz_!" right as her foot collided with the shadows. There was a flash, a whine, then the force knocked Jenny back. She rolled off her shoulder, to land in a kneeling position, ready to jump up and attack again, only the wolf was gone. The hall stretched in front of her, empty and still. It took her a minute to accept that, expecting an attack from the darkness that still cloaked them. Then she dove back to Summer, tried to pick her up, looking for any blood, asking-worrying-

But then she finally took notice of the commotion _behind_ her.

She spun around among Audrey's blood curling scream just in time to see the shadows consume Tom on the floor. Her panic peaked.

"No!"

She got up screaming every rune she could think of, focusing not on the spark of power hitting the elongated 3D shadow body again and again, but on the blood she saw on Tom's face. Right as she got to the creature, it rose up in an instant. It took Jenny half a second to realize this creature was in the shape of a massive snake, with a head larger than the couch, and eyes as big as her hands-red-hot burning eyes that drilled right through her.

It interrupted her next rune by striking at her. It felt like the whole world tackled her in the gut. She felt the strength, the power, invade her fiercer than a thousand needles pickling all over her body, with the pressure threatening to crush her bones, before the back of her head smacked the ground.

The heated blackness came over her immediately-too easily.

The next thing Jenny knew, someone was cradling her head, calling her name. She couldn't see right; she couldn't even recognize the voice calling for her. Everything was….fuzzy.

Her head was congested. It was so hard to fight passed the confusion, and the _pain_ -

Jenny finally opened her eyes, not realizing they had been closed, blinking passed the throbbing heat radiating all over. Her body came to her slowly, the weight pushing down on her limbs one by one until the feeling came back to her, heavy, sore. Her cheek was a pulsing, terrible ache that went deep into her bones. It was her arm, however, that was on _fire_. She felt the blood, the torn open skin, but her gasp was choked in her throat. She finally coughed, air returning to her lungs, fully coming to.

Zach was the one holding her. His wild gray eyes were the first thing Jenny recognized, hunched over her like that, with fear radiating off his every feature. He was screaming, "Jenny! Jenny, look at me. Oh, God. Are you okay? Breathe- **Breathe**."

Jenny winced when his voice made her brain fizzle with pain. She tried to move, to lift her arm, move her head, or something, but the world was moving too fast for her to catch up. She finally recognized the pressure on her bloody arm. She saw it, her arm, wrapped in a shirt with all of Zach's weight pressing down on it. She realized it was to stop the blood loss, but the image didn't connect in her mind-Like it was some odd hallucination. The pain proved otherwise. She writhed.

Zach caught her among her spasm, as she jerked and tried to sit up, shushing her as he tied the shirt even tighter than before. "You're okay," he was saying over and over, "you're okay. You're okay. It's not that deep. It-It's stopped. Tell me you're okay." He was back to holding her head now, trying to ease her body back down to the floor.

But Jenny was trying to push against him, trying so hard to force her body back up because she remembered-her mind fell into a panic as she remembered the creatures, the attack-Tom. Yet, when she looked passed Zach to the rest of the dark room around them, she couldn't see anything passed the shadows. She couldn't find them-anywhere. She saw the furniture upturned, glass shattered, but her friends were nowhere in sight.

"Wh-Where are- _Oh_." The second she spoke, the pressure burst in the back of her head, immense heat radiating all the way to her temples so bad that her vision went white.

"Shh, stop talking. You're making it worse." Zach was now officially holding all of her weight now, the back of her shoulders on his thighs with her ton of a head in his arms. Meanwhile the rest of her body remained sprawled out on the floor, limp and aching.

But Jenny didn't give up; she forced the air out of her lungs, no matter how much it hurt. " _Tom_."

Something changed in Zach's face. "They're okay," he said after a minute. "Dee's with Summer outside, and we carried Audrey and Michael to the bedroom. Tom's, uh…. unconscious."

Jenny made her gaze stay on her cousin. She was focusing clearer now, instincts kicking through the fog of her mind. She remembered the snake creature attacking Tom, then her. The fact that she lost consciousness was proven to her by the migraine that swelled in her temples, burning like a hundred suns. She was thinking too many things now-picturing what happened after that, what she had done, the things that attacked them- _Julian_.

All of it came to her too quickly. Her instincts went in a panic. "W-We have to go," she was trying to say, but she heard her voice, weak, and knew the words didn't come out right.

Zach immediately pushed on her shoulders when she tried to sit up once more. "No, stay down. The wound-"

"I'm _fine_ ," she stressed and smacked away his hands, which echoed throughout her whole body in a nauseous wave. She felt her arm, the instant trigger of pain when she tried to move it, and she bit back that wince pretty well. "W-We're exposed-The game. We have to move-"

"If you move, you'll die." The strictness in Zach's voice was almost surreal. It stopped Jenny in her place. "I watched you. When I came running in here, I saw it-That-That _thing_ on top of you and it was gone and you were just…" he finally tore his gaze from hers, swallowing something tough. Jenny could only stare at him for a moment as the heat raced up the back of her neck, seizing enough pain to diminish the last of her strength. His tone was calmer when he finished, "That was the next round, right? I understand it, just…. Don't let him win by killing yourself."

Oh Jenny hated the irony in that. She hated the irony in all of this. She hated _herself_ for falling for it, for being so stupid and worthless and weak-So weak!

Apart of her wanted to argue with her cousin. To jump up and continue the fight like she should have done. And yet her body gave out on her, slipping her back onto her cousin's lap. How badly it all hurt-How desperate her mind was to go back to sleep, to rest, to die. And yet, Jenny knew it wasn't going to be that simple. Nothing was ever that simple with Shadow Men, especially when you piss one off-When you deliberately stabbed one in the back and indirectly gave him the right to come to Earth and put something that was only ever meant to be in the Shadow World, on Earth. Jenny hated it. She truly did. But she hated herself more for adding new players to the game that should have ended four years

* * *

 _ **UPDATE 9/24/16: I know the last thing you guys want to see is me taking content away but don't worry; it is necessary for the final chapter. I am fixing a lot of things as you read this. I can't apologize enough for the wait so I just have to make this final chapter worth it DX Expect the final chapter by next week!**_

 **UPDATE 1/5/16: Hi guys! I made some grammar corrections, as well as fixing the whole last half of this chapter because that conversation after the attack was absolutely terrible. I apologize for that. I hope I made things clearer with the plot as well as the writing.**

 **I want to personally thank reviewer Kathryn for her lovely criticism. I do love the advice and the help, even if it sounds harsh at times. I personally have to accept that my writing is not perfect the first time around because its not, and that rewriting and editing is healthy. SO if anyone wants to shoot me any advice, I won't be offended, but you guys don't have to. I will do my best to catch my errors better before posting. For some reason my computer doesn't like to capitalize Jenny's name so I tried to go back and fix that as well. :)**

 **Thanks again for sticking with me guys. I'll try to update soon!**

 **HAPPY NEW YEARS GUYS! I hope everyone had a good holiday break. As always, I apologize for taking so long but just before Christmas my father got a concussion so that put a delay on stuff. Isn't life fun?! He's fine, though, and I've gotten enough work into editing my book to give you guys a new chapter. So here's one more chapter to get you guys going into 2016. It's not as long as the others, but since it's almost over, I wanted to save all the juicy bits for the next chapter.**

 **I'm very sad to say that the next chapter will be the last. This has to be my favorite Forbidden game FF so far, so hey, who knows-maybe I'll have a couple extra bits with these two for you guys ;)**

 **As for my other fics, I will be updating as soon as I can. I may have a little surprise for all you guys, so you might want to check in soon, regarding a NEW FG ff XD I have a problem, lol.**

 **Anyway, thanks for sticking with me guys! Hope I don't disappoint with this ending. Till my next update!**

 **ZVA**


	7. Chapter 7

Every time Jenny imagined telling her friends the truth, if she ever got the courage to explain to them and get them to believe her, she feared the face they would make at her. Of the fear they would have of her, of the hate they would have for what she really was. She feared it more than any demon or curse in all the nine worlds. So when Jenny woke up, after the realization of their situation came through the haze of her mind, she feared the look they would give her. Of the things they would yell, the way they would blame her-

Yet, when Jenny woke up, she was met with nothing but concern.

Zach was at her side, sitting on the edge of the couch with her, where he immediately calmed her-checked her head. It only took a second for Jenny to scan the room, to find her friends- _all_ of her friends-in the room with them before the panic came.

Jenny jumped up. She had to, to fight-Julian was here, on Earth-How long had she been out-

But before Zach or even one of her friends could stop her, the pain came like a sledgehammer to the back of her mind, dropping her back onto the couch almost instantly.

Zach was there, putting an ice pack over it even though they both knew it would hardly help. "Are you trying to kill yourself?" he snapped although his tone was gentle, lined with concern. "Take it easy for a-"

"We have to go," Jenny breathed and took the ice pack off. "We can't stay here-He was _here_ -"

"And where are we supposed to go?" His tone was firmer now, and he shoved the ice pack back at her. "Outside? Where there are cars and people and animals that he can manipulate to attack us-"

"We're sitting _ducks_ here!" Jenny snapped. "He was here, this whole time, and he _waited_ until you figured it out-To mess with us-"

Zach grabbed her gently, then again, tighter, after she smacked away his hands. "Calm down- _Jenny_ -"

She tried to stand again, and she did, with Zach standing with her, but he stopped her-didn't let her storm away from him. "We just need to take a breather, ok? You just woke up-Hey-Stop for a second. I was trying to explain-"

"We _can't_ ," Jenny snapped. "He's on Earth-I let a Shadow Man come to Earth, gave him permission to this place, and the longer we wait the more time he has to set up a trap that will kill us all and we don't have the first clue on how to stop him-"

" **Jenny**!"

Jenny didn't realize she had been shouting until Zach had to scream over her. It was there, in that moment of shock, that she finally looked away from her cousin, to her friends that hadn't said a damn word since she woke up.

They were _terrified_.

It wasn't the face Jenny had always imagined how they'd look at her-Because they weren't afraid of her. No, they were afraid of what she was saying, of the reality of their situation-that they were all now being hunted by a demon that could do _anything_ -

Jenny was staring at her friends, helplessly, as she realized what she had said, to what extent had she increased their fear-Fear, that Julian was going off of. Right, you can't panic. Panic leads to mistakes and mistakes lead to death. Jenny knew this-

But with her _friends_ -On Earth-

She took a breath, and forced the panic away. Once she was calm, the pain in her mind, aching in a throbbing migraine, only seemed to heighten. She finally sat back down, taking the ice pack that her cousin gave back to her. She finally realized her arm had been bandaged, but she could see the beginning of some blood seeping through them. For the next few minutes, Jenny had tried focusing on numbing the pain instead of the look on her friends' faces-who were now in danger-Because of _her_ -

For a while, it was quiet. They all sat there-Dee in the cushioned chair with Summer on her lap. Audrey in a chair pulled from the kitchen on the other side of the coffee table with Michael standing beside her, and Tom sitting on the floor off to the side. There were half eaten plates of toast and muffins here and there, but Jenny didn't touch the full plate in front of her. No, she was more worried about the small blonde with the bandages around her ankles, and her boyfriend who had a bag of frozen peas on his head, coated in blood-

"Are you ok?" Jenny asked to Summer, who just barely lifted her gaze.

Dee was the one to answer her, rubbing the small blonde's arms for support. "Just a few scratches. Nothing our strong Sunbunny can't handle."

Jenny looked to Tom, who just gave her a shrug. She didn't get the chance to push him on it because Zach was talking next, in a low voice, to Jenny and Jenny alone.

"I tried to, uh…explain. But…"

Jenny met the doubt in her cousin's gray eyes, and she noticed the bags under them. She noticed the lines in his face and the cut on his neck and the stains on his clothes like they hadn't been changed in days -Exactly how long had he been fighting before Julian got to Earth?

Thankfully, Audrey spoke before Jenny could even think of where to begin. "So there's a demon after us."

Jenny had to swallow something, to clear her voice, before she answered. "Yes-Well, me. He will attack you guys , but… He wants me."

"Why?" Summer's small voice seemed to tear into the tension of the room.

Oh, Jenny should have been ready for that question, but she hesitated. Because he loves me, she thought selfishly, because he wants to keep me.

No, that wasn't right. She…betrayed him. She literally stabbed him in the back. Even if he really had loved her before, truly, then he didn't love her anymore.

Something painful lodged itself in Jenny's chest, right between her lungs, constricting like a knot. It was more painful than her headache, at the realization that Julian wanted her dead. Honestly, like a real demon should.

She shouldn't be upset by that. She shouldn't be swallowing down this pain-the guilt.

"Because I'm the one who started a game with him," she finally answered, almost breathlessly. "He's a Shadow Man. They play games, and I started one to save Zach."

She felt her cousin tense beside her in an instant. Without thinking she grabbed his hand, squeezing it without breaking eye contact with her friends.

"A Shadow Man?"

"Is that the kind of demon you were talking about before?" Michael asked quietly.

"Yes, but I…I _know_ this one. I fought him back when I was twelve. I know how he works, what he does."

"You _know_ him?" Audrey asked, the suspicion clearly in her eyes.

"Yes I-I've been in games with him before."

"Did you beat him?" Dee asked. "Before?"

Something terrible panged Jenny in the chest at that, remembering the face Julian made when she dropped, at the reminder of the blade sinking into his gut-

"No," she said quickly. "Zach pulled me out of the game. Of both of them, before I could."

At that, her cousin pulled his hand away. Jenny couldn't bring herself to look at him, so she went on. "But I've fought him so many times. When he took Zach, I knew how to go find him. I know how to counter him, to beat him."

"Can't you, like…You know, get him now?"

"We've never fought one from Earth before. It's always been from the shadows, or in another dimension-"

Zach cut her off. "But we're going to seal the apartment. To start. He's not going to pull anything like that again."

Something nagged at Jenny at that, something small and _wrong_ that she couldn't decipher from the pain in her temples at the moment, but then Audrey was asking, "What do you mean, seal the apartment?"

"That isn't going to make my rent go up, is it?"

"Michael, that's the last thing you need to be worrying about it."

Zach answered, "It's a barrier, with runes-Er, magic. To protect us, so he can't attack us again."

"But he can," Jenny countered her cousin. "He can attack us. He got permission. We just have to be prepared-"

"He can enter the apartment, yes, but we can prevent him from setting up traps."

Poor Summer in the corner dropped her face into her hands, mumbling, "I'm confused."

"Can he get us or not?"

"Yes."

"No."

Jenny and Zach had answered at the same time, making her cousin look at her like she was crazy. "But I'm not going to let him hurt you guys," Jenny said before Zach could argue with her. "He only wants me."

"S-So what do we do?"

Zach stood up. "For now, let's stay together. We can control this space, limit his attacks. Jenny and I will set the runes in place, then…I think it's best that everyone gets a protectant rune on their hands. We can show you how…"

He was going on, but Jenny finally realized what was wrong. She looked up to her cousin, almost in shock as he kept talking about how _they_ were going to help everyone. He said _we_.

"You're not playing."

Jenny said it so bluntly that it cut Zach short. He looked to her, confused. Jenny shook her head, which only bounced the pain back and forth like a jackhammer to her forehead. "He has permission to use you. You were a _prize_. He'll get in your head-"

"You're not serious."

Jenny proved herself _very_ serious by coming to a firm stand, no matter how dizzy she got, staring down her cousin with the same intensity as when she fought him in the maze. She watched her cousin's mouth go slack, gray eyes wide.

"You're not doing this alone-"

"You _can't_ play, Zach."

"What, you seriously think you can do this alone?"

Jenny went to say, "I have before," until Dee asked, "A prize?"

Jenny sighed at that, which spread through her mind like a burn. "This game-It's a win-lose basis. Every round had a winner, and they got a prize-It's just a trick, a loophole, for them to get permission to torture you further. Zach was a bargaining chip."

Zach had to look away at that, swallowing something tough. His hands balled into fists at his sides. "You can't do this alone," he mumbled through numb lips.

"Zach-"

"Your mind isn't strong enough, either," Zach quickly countered. His voice was a lot firmer now, those gray eyes a shade darker when he looked at her. "Your wound-"

"I don't have a choice," Jenny snapped before he could continue. "I'm the main player, I can't back out."

"One more attack could rupture it-"

"You don't think I know that? You don't think _he_ knows that?"

"Who's going to protect you when he uses _that_ against you?"

Dee spoke before Jenny could think of a response. "Wait, what?"

"What are you talking about?" Tom questioned, now on his feet, dropping the bag of peas onto the table.

No-They couldn't know. It was fine if they just didn't. So Jenny answered a bit too quickly, "Nothing."

The disbelief crossed her cousin's face before it was consumed with a certain kind of fury that could only be fueled by jealous irony.

"I thought we weren't keeping secrets anymore?"

Shit.

Jenny didn't get the chance to stop him. Zach spit it all out before she could even take a breath. "Jenny got a head injury four years ago from a game-"

" _What_?"

"From the same Shadow Man that is chasing us now. Her mind could split in half at any second-"

"No, it won't!"

"It is getting worse," Zach snapped, coming a step closer to her. "I can tell. Who knows what will happen to you if you push yourself-"

"You can't push yourself, either," Jenny practically shouted at him. "Julian **hates** you. Because you took me away-He wanted to kill you, you know that? Now that he's here, he _will_ use you against me. At least I can stop him from attacking my mind."

Jenny saw the sting her words left in her cousin, but she couldn't feel bad about it. She knew Zach was right, that her wound was weak, but she was one the Julian wanted. She was the one who had control here, if just a little. She couldn't play it safe now, not with her friend's lives on the lines.

The silence was back yet again, only it didn't last very long.

" _Julian_?"

Jenny could only groan, from the migraine, the argument, the question. She turned on whoever asked it, hissing, "Yes, Julian, that's what he calls himself-"

The whole world drained from her. Her headache, anger and all, it all melted away in a heartbeat, leaving nothing but the horrible guilt eating away at her strength. Tom was facing her, had dropped the bag of peas. And the look on his face-

"Wait, Tom- _Tom!_ "

She jumped after him when he began to storm away and when Jenny grabbed his arm, he actually threw her off.

"I can't even believe-Tell me I'm wrong," he snapped when he turned on her. "Tell me it's not the same-"

"No, please just listen-"

"It is, isn't it?"

Oh, Jenny couldn't take it. The hurt in his eyes, stabbing through her like spears. It rendered her utterly speechless. She stood there in front of him, jaw hanging open like a complete fool. Tom stared at her, taking that in, before he turned away from her, running his hands through his hair in disbelief.

"Wait, what's going on?"

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Jenny?"

Jenny couldn't answer her friends. She was trying to meet Tom's gaze, to get him to just look at her, to understand that it wasn't the same-it wasn't like that-she hadn't mean to hurt him-

But he wouldn't. He was getting more and more furious by the second, pulling away from her touch, getting more and frustrated the more she continued to come at him. Until he finally snapped, "You lied right to my face!"

"No, it's not-"

"I can't believe you."

"Tom, please- _Tom_."

Then, just like that, he turned for the door; the front door, to leave, outside, when they were in a game.

Jenny was on him before she knew what she was doing. It was so easy, how fast she grabbed his arm. A pull, twist, and she flipped her boyfriend over her shoulder. He landed smack on his back in the center of the living room.

Someone shouted.

Dee was by Tom's side in an instant, checking his head-Right, he was injured. And Jenny just-Just-

 _There_ -That was the look. Every time Jenny imagined telling her friends the truth, of the fear they would have of her, the hate; the look she always tried to picture on their faces as they gawked at her.

That was the look on Tom's face. As he gazed up at her from the floor, holding his head in disbelief. The shock, the betrayal in his eyes-In all their gazes; It very well tore Jenny apart.

Yet, she stood standing. As a Hunter should, she remained there, in front of them all, emotions pushed aside in order to speak. "I'm sorry," she all but choked out. "Ok? I'm sorry. Hate me all you want, but you're going to have to do it from across the room because anyone who leaves this apartment will die. And not slowly, I promise you that."

She didn't wait to see the reaction on the rest of her friend's faces. She turned for the kitchen in silence, to grab all of Michael's knives to prepare for the game.

…..

First thing was first, seal the apartment. Jenny sealed all the doors and windows very carefully, resulting in her hand being a bloody mess within the hour. She shut all the doors in the hallway, leaving only the bathroom, kitchen and living room available.

Meanwhile Zach had been getting everyone to carve the protection symbol on their palms. It wasn't an easy task, although Dee handled it like a champ. Audrey was more worried about ruining her manicure. Michael had almost fainted at the sight of the blood, but in the end he had his carved as well. By the time Jenny finished marking everything, only Tom and Summer were last, which the small blonde wasn't handling the situation very well.

She was cowering on the couch, clutching her hands tight to her chest, shaking her head wildly at her friends. "I don't want to!"

"Summer, please. It only hurts for a second."

"I don't want it to hurt!"

"It's to protect you, Summer. Please?"

But Summer only shook her head again and turned away.

Eventually Tom came and sat beside her, taking the knife from Zach. He showed his empty palm to Summer and spoke quietly, "Hey, Sunbunny. Can I tell you something?"

The little blonde looked to him under her curtain of thick blonde curls, with her bright sky blue eyes lined with tears. She nodded.

"I'm scared to do it, too."

"R-…Really?"

Tom nodded, and Summer was able to lift her head a bit higher. "How about this; Help me with mine, and I'll help you with yours. It won't hurt as much if we do it together, right?"

It was clear in Summer's face that she didn't agree with that right away, but after Tom put his hand over hers and helped her slice the markings into his palm, she seemed to understand. She had watched his face, which Tom didn't even flinch, like the perfect guy that he was, and that was enough for Summer because within the next few minutes, he was carving the marking into Summer's palm.

Everyone smiled at Tom then, for being able to coax the small blonde in the end. Even Jenny was smiling, from the archway across the room. When Tom met her gaze, though, both their smiles died.

Jenny immediately went into the kitchen.

Instead of sulking or hating herself, she grabbed all of Michael's knives and very carefully began to carve the Egyptian runes into them. It was tough. Her grandfather had very special tools to do this in the basement, made of pure silver that he had taken straight from Jotuenhiem. But Jenny managed as she always did. When she finally finished the first one, she tucked it into the ordinary belt she had stolen from Michael's laundry. It wasn't proper like her Hunting belt that was more like a holster for her weapons, but it would have to do for now.

Somewhere along the carving, Jenny's headache had returned. In fact, now that she thought about it, it never really had gone away. Not yet. Her headaches always went away after a while.

But as Jenny stood there now, scratching blade onto blade, the shearing in her temples seemed to only get worse. She was ignoring it, like always, but after a while it had grown into a terrible migraine. She found herself cradling the back of her head, grimacing in pain. That was, until another hand gently laid on top of hers.

Zach was there, concern raging through those gray eyes like a stormy November sky. Jenny couldn't say anything to calm it. She only pulled his hand away and acted like there wasn't a hammer banging around inside her head. She wanted to say something to dismiss it, so he wouldn't try and grill her again like he did earlier, but he beat her to it.

"Don't push yourself." He said it quietly, gingerly.

Jenny almost laughed. _Too late_ , she thought, but what she said was, "I could say the same to you."

Zach was the one to look away from that. Jenny had picked up the knives again, finishing the last rune she was on, until Zach grabbed her arm. Her bandages had fallen loose, from the blood. Jenny hadn't even noticed it was bleeding again.

"I told you to wrap this better."

"I had to make sure they all got the runes carved."

Zach didn't seem to approve of that explanation judging by how his eyebrows pinched together. Yet, he silently coaxed her into dropping the knives. He gently peeled off the bloody bandages, and put her arm in the sink, under running water. With such slender, artist fingers, he began to easily work through the open wounds. The cuts in her skin weren't deep, but there were many, all torn through the skin so harshly. It burned, but Jenny bit it back, like she taught herself to do years ago.

"How are you?" Zach asked amid it all.

Jenny turned her sharp gaze on him. "How are _you_?"

Her cousin seemed surprised by this because he looked at her, and hesitated. Soon he turned off the water, grabbed a clean towel and began to gently dry her arm. "I'm…here."

He then grabbed the bottle of alcohol and eased it over the wound. This burned twice as much. Jenny hissed.

"Sorry…"

He dried her arm again, gentler than before. He was holding her arm like a child's, so lightly, so softly. Like he was afraid of making it worse. Like he was afraid _he_ was going to hurt her.

That only threw Jenny right back into the Maze, when she was fighting him, how terrified he was. Of hurting her. Of losing control. The guilt inside only worsened, making Jenny choke on the pain.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, shocking her cousin to the point of freezing in place. "Zach, I'm so sorry I-I never… _saw_. I never knew-"

"Don't," he snapped. "Don't do that. It's…." A shadow passed over those stormy gray eyes, concealing them, hiding her cousin away from Jenny all over again.

So Jenny grabbed his face, lifted his chin so that he met her eyes, that he looked at her through that shadow. Instantly she saw him back at twelve years old, standing together in the basement. As Hunters, as family, they had been so close. It was almost nice to feel such a bond again.

Only now their friends were in the other room, as targets in a game, on _Earth_.

"Swear to me," she said, and it came out so hushed. "On _Pethro_ , after all of this is over, that we'll talk-"

"Jenny-"

"Swear to me." She forced him to meet her gaze after he looked away, and she held him there; all of him, just in her gaze alone, she caught him. "We're stronger than this. I know we are. Promise me."

She watched that hit him, rougher than Jenny intended. It widened in his face, before slowly draining away, taken over by the doubt, the fear. He looked away again, but slowly he nodded. He traced the rune in the air between them, mumbling, "I swear. On _Pethro_ …."

Jenny expected him to pull away from her after that, but surprisingly he turned back. "You, too."

Jenny was already lifting her finger to trace the mark in the air. That was until Zach clarified.

"Swear you're not going to go easy on Julian."

She froze. "What?"

"He gets to you, as much as he gets to me-I know he does. You can't let him. If you go easy on him like you did before then-"

"I did _not_ go easy on him," she snapped it so bad that instantly her headache was back, burning through her temples. The pain only added to her anger. "It took everything I had to trap him down."

"But you didn't kill him."

Jenny actually groaned and turned away from her cousin. "God, Zach, you know the chances of actually doing that-"

"You didn't try-"

"We don't know _how_."

"Yes, we do." Zach tried to turn her back, but Jenny shrugged him off. "The Stave. Grandfather wrote about it and I know you remember that."

"So what?" She hissed through the pain. "Do you want me to run back to the Shadow World-"

"No-"

"To find a giant rock with names carved on it that could be _anywhere_ in that dimension, and leave you guys stranded here without any protection?"

"Jenny, you know that's not what I meant."

"Then what? What do you expect me to do? I can't kill him. He has permission to kill me _and_ you guys and there's nothing I can-"

"I mean that he's gotten to you." He said it so directly, so flatly, that Jenny stopped.

Although she had her back to him, Jenny could hear the easing of his tone as he continued, "I know it's hard. We were never trained for it fully, but…He got to you. In the closet. I know he did. He's getting to you now."

He was going on, saying more that Jenny didn't really want to hear. She was tuning him out unconsciously-No, that was something else. There was an odd strike of pain that Jenny wasn't familiar with, more so in the back of her neck, and the burn spread around her head-to her ear. Jenny tried to ignore it, to hear the scolding her cousin was giving her, but the burning only got worse-searing her ear to the point that it consumed all her thoughts-concentration. She finally reached up to cradle the pain-where she felt blood.

The hot wetness coated her fingers so much that it shocked her to a still-point. There was so much already pouring from her ear that it began to run down her neck. The panic had her holding her breath, standing there with her hand over her bloody ear, waiting for Zach to see, to go into a frantic mess-And he couldn't see it. It'd push him over the edge-make her stop playing-

But he didn't. He was still talking, asking her to remember what their grandfather said. That's right, Jenny's back was to him. It was her left ear and, if anything, Zach could only see the right side of her. So Jenny didn't move, didn't speak.

"Just," Zach finally breathed, "promise me you won't go easy on him. Please."

"Yeah-Yes."

"Swear it."

Without turning, Jenny numbly traced the rune in the air, and prayed that he wouldn't make her look at him-to make her say it out loud-

Thankfully, her cousin only heaved a sigh and he left. Jenny waited until she heard him in the living room, made sure he was sitting down on the couch, before she snatched a handful of napkins. She cleaned up all the blood, made sure the bleeding stopped, then threw away all the evidence.

It was obvious what was wrong-Her wound. She was pushing herself, she knew. It must be getting worse-

No, she was fine. She _had_ to be. There was a Shadow Man, on Earth, after her friends. She couldn't be falling apart. She had to be-be perfect and calm and strong.

So Jenny took a deep breath, and calmly washed her hands. She was stronger than this. She didn't have a choice. She'd worry about it later. Right now, she needed to save everyone. Right now she needed to…to finish carving the runes on the blades.

Jenny was drying her hands when she heard Summer's small voice from the hallway. "Michael, I think your toilet is leaking."

Jenny's instincts kicked her in the rear so fast that she was in the hall the next second, finding Summer at Michael's bathroom door. The water was leaking from under the door, soaking out into the hall so bad that it was causing a puddle. But Jenny was the only one to see the rest of the water leaking from the sides of the door, the stress pressing on the door from inside.

Jenny screamed right as Summer opened the door, "No!"

The water shot out from the bathroom like a tidal wave, a gratuitous amount of water that was impossible to come from a small apartment bathroom. It knocked small Summer back in a heartbeat. Within seconds, it had the whole apartment flood up to everyone's knees. In concession, the rest of the doors down the hall began to burst open, one after the other, gushing out so much water that it was astonishing, making the hall like a dam that had burst.

By the time Jenny helped Summer up, the water was already at their waist. It was rising impossibly fast, there was no time to think. Zach and Tom were already at the front door, trying to break it open. But the force of the water was too much. Even if it wasn't, Jenny knew it would be impossible to get it open.

They were beginning to panic. Summer was crying. Jenny couldn't think.

"We're going to drown!"

"No, we're not!"

"How are we supposed to stop it?"

"Jenny!"

Jenny didn't know who called her, but it brought her attention away from the flooding hallway. Attempting to close those doors was as useless as opening the front door. She couldn't use the rune for ice now; it would freeze them all where they were. Kenaz would be useless. There had to be a way. There was always a way, no matter how hard it was to find it.

The water was too high now. They were all floating off the ground, growing closer and closer to the ceiling every second. Zach was swimming up to her, trying to get her attention. He was talking about a portal, to take them somewhere else, before they run out of air, but Jenny knew better. Jumping between the dimensions was too dangerous. Julian could grab them so easily that way. There had to be _something_.

She was looking around wildly, searching so desperately, but their heads were already at the ceiling. They were all pushing against it, desperately trying to keep their noses and mouths above the water. Jenny was doing the same, just as she looked to the kitchen- _The kitchen!_

The ceiling of the kitchen was domed, separate from the living room and the hall. Which meant it would have a pocket of air, just like an underwater cave.

"There!" Jenny gasped just as the water consumed them all.

The water was twice as cold underneath, burning the roots of her hair, her eyelids. She had to open her eyes, and found Zach in front of her doing the same. She quickly pointed to the kitchen, trying to get her point across with her eyes. But he just looked at her.

So Jenny grabbed whoever was closest to her, Michael, and began to drag him toward the kitchen. After kicking them along, she shoved him through the archway, where he rose to the top. Jenny rose with him and broke the surface. It was a small pocket of air, but enough. Jenny took a breath and dove back under. Dee had caught on and was dragging Summer with her. Zach was doing the same with Audrey. Just as they passed her, Jenny saw Tom.

He was swimming away from her, toward the back wall, near the hall.

Jenny immediately swam after him, kicking herself as hard as she could to reach him, to get him to air before he ran out. She was almost to him, realizing he was going for the window behind the couch.

It was in the moment that she reached for him, her hand just above his shoulder, that something thin and familiar wrapped around her ankle. Then she was dragged down the hallway.

The force yanked her passed all the gushing doors, into the shadows themselves, where Jenny couldn't see a thing. But she didn't need to see to know what had her. The pain was all too familiar, the strength at which the monster was pulling her with, down into the crevasse of the ocean that it dwelled in. Jenny snatched the blade from her waist, but the force prevented her from bending down. Doing so only snapped her back upright, striking pain in her lower back. She felt the Leviathan thrash its head, swaying her from side to side. The shock made her gasp, losing precious air. She almost dropped the knife-

No! This wasn't how she was going to die. Not by a stupid sea monster-Not by drowning. Not by a stupid trick from a Shadow Man.

Jenny grabbed her own leg and bend herself over, fighting over the force of the water that was rushing against her, but she still couldn't see-Didn't matter. Jenny swung blindly in the dark, and with one swipe, she cut the tentacle that was around her leg.

She was stopped in an instant, cut off from the force, and heard the shriek from the Leviathan somewhere below her. She had to be ready, in case it came charging at her. The only way Jenny knew her eyes were actually open was from the sting of the cold against them. Still, it was nothing but blackness, shadows, where Shadow Men thrived.

Jenny began to kick herself up, as hard as she could, not knowing if there was even a surface for her to break to. Yet, she barely got three good kicks in before she heard the voice.

It was muffled by the water, but Jenny heard it all the same, just as fierce as the first time. _"Don't pity me."_

The light is what stopped her next, coming from her side, just down below her. It was a glow, coming from around something. Jenny couldn't see it clearly at this angle-She didn't need to. She was going to drown.

But then she heard her own voice, younger, confused. _"Pity you?"_

That struck something in Jenny so unnerving that she physically couldn't keep swimming up. The light increased, just enough for her to make out a doorframe. Her voice continued to speak, muffled through the water, in the exact same nervous tone she had when they had this conversation four years ago. _"_ _If I pitied you…I would've opened the door that first day and let you out. Not help you stay locked up."_

Jenny couldn't help it. She swam back down, quickly, and grabbed the top of the door frame to pull herself lower, into the doorway. Inside the room was nothing but blackness, illuminated by a thin glow of power that was shaped like a dimensional box-A box Jenny knew well. Sure enough, inside the box was the blurry black and white image of Jenny and Julian, both younger, both distraught and confused and vulnerable. They looked like fuzzy paintings of some sort, with their edges slowly peeling away from the water. They wavered with the currents that swayed the real Jenny now in the doorway.

The memory played like an eerie silent film that echoed through the water as if in her own head. They were staring at each other from so close, alone in that box.

Younger Jenny had spoken as if it physically hurt. _"You really don't want to hurt me?"_

" _Jenny, you'll never understand how much I loathe that thought."_

" _Swear you won't kill me?"_

" _On the Stave my name is carved on."_

Oh it hurt. To see this again, to hear it so clearly as if Julian was saying it to her all over again.

Jenny knew she was running out of air, her lungs beginning to burn on her, but she needed to see it. To see Julian bow to her again, to kiss the back of her hand, promising her all of the nine worlds, to protect her, to _catch_ her again-

And yet a current so strong knocked Jenny away from the doorframe. It happened so fast that any air Jenny had left slipped from her lips in a gasp. The water was now a storm, pure chaos, throwing her around wildly again and again. Jenny had absolutely no control, no time to even think of how to stop it. Until finally she hit something that slowed her down just enough. Then the water ripped away from her, draining away, and she hit the floor of Michael's living room like a fish on land.

At first Jenny could do nothing but lay there and choke for breath. She was drenched from head to toe, as was Michael's carpet, and for a while all she could hear was the roar of blood in her ears. The shock was too much. She was just lying there, blinking, breathing, baffled at the memory-that Julian showed her that-

He swore not to kill her. Not just to protect her from being harmed, _he_ swore not to kill her. How could she forget? He couldn't-

No, he could. Don't be stupid. Shadow Man had so many tricks. She betrayed him. He hated her now. That was a warning, to scare her. Just because he couldn't physically rip her soul to shreds didn't mean he couldn't trick her into killing herself, or having one of her friends do it. Hell, she almost risked drowning herself just to see that stupid memory.

Jenny was so out of it, still reeling from the shock, that she didn't notice the person standing above her until they grabbed her. Her first thought from the manly grip was Zach, or maybe even Tom, but the second the grip tightened, far stronger than anything human could ever do, her instincts quickly proved her wrong.

The next thing Jenny knew, she was off the ground, lifted by the grip on her shirt. The person who had her was no person at all. It had the body of a man, legs, torso and arms, but the head was replaced with that of some kind of creature. Like a leech, it was long and circular, with a gaping hole for a mouth, no eyes, no nose. It wiggled around like it was alive, then the folds of its disgusting rotten skin shrunk back to reveal teeth. Rows and rows of sharp teeth all at the perfect angle to latch onto something and never let go. It was bloated, with skin like rotten blue clay. Jenny had never seen one before, but she immediately knew that it looked like a corpse that had been sitting in the water for far too long.

The monster hissed at her, and it was so high pitch that it immediately struck pain to the back of Jenny's head, bursting heat all the way to her temples. She didn't think. She sunk her blade straight into the creature's mouth, passed as many rows of teeth as she could, and twisted it. The creature let out a horrific shriek immediately and began to stumble and sway.

Jenny was trying to break its hold on her when she heard the girly scream-familiar-Audrey.

She was behind the creature, drenched from head to toe in the middle of Michael's living room. She was staring at them in such horror-Jenny hesitated.

Then the creature twisted and launched its arm out, throwing Jenny right down the hallway. It threw her so hard that Jenny didn't stop until she hit the very back wall and dropped straight to the floor like a doornail. She couldn't recover so easily from that. The pain radiated from everywhere, echoing in a terrible throb in the back of her head, adding to the heat. Jenny felt the blood again, but she couldn't-She had to get up. It was going to go after Audrey or everyone. She had to-

But Jenny barely lifted her head off the ground and found the creature storming towards her. It's leech-like head wiggling back and forth, still with the knife in it, just at the end of the hall-No, it wasn't that close. It was in the living room-Jenny blinked, then it was three feet from her. Her vision was wavering, she couldn't see right. There were two of them-No, just one, right on top of her.

She couldn't get up. Every time she got herself to sit up, her elbows gave out on her and she fell right back to the floor. She heard the hissing of the creature just above her, could smell its rotting stench burning her nose-She couldn't-She had to say a rune or something.

Someone beat her to it.

" _Djew_!"

Jenny heard the strike of power, but she couldn't see straight. She was still trying to get up, but the closer she got the worse her headache grew. She heard the commotion in front of her, saw the tangle of legs stumbling away from her, but the noises just grew louder and louder. The migraine was too much. Her head felt so congested, as if all the water in the apartment had swelled into her head, weighing her down, drowning her mind.

She was blinking like a mad woman, trying to see straight, and just for a moment it cleared, where she saw the creature above her. It was a lot bloodier than before, it's head no longer a hole of teeth but a shredded mess of rotten flesh and muscle. Behind it was Zach, also covered in blood, with Jenny's knife in hand. Jenny heard him say something, as strong and clear as a Hunter should, and the creature went down with a hiss that sounded like a deflating balloon.

That was the last thing Jenny remembered before she collapsed.

…-

Jenny knew she was dreaming.

It was from how calmly she awoke, on Michael's couch in the dark. She was bone dry, in new clothes, without an ache or pain in her whole body. Her head didn't even throb when she sat up. Her friends were all asleep around her, mostly on the floor or the chair. Plus, everything in the room was dry and in perfect order, as if it hadn't been turned into the world's worst swimming pool hours ago.

So she knew. Perhaps she could have said a rune or something prevent it, to get the Shadow Man out of her head, but if he was here-if he was controlling this dream like all the others…

Jenny got up. Slowly, she came to a stand and walked away from her friends. The only light came from the kitchen, the dim orange glow from the stove just enough for her to see, and to cover everything in harsh shadows.

Jenny was waiting. For another memory, another monster to fight, she wasn't too sure, but she knew there'd be something. A hint of some sort, or maybe just another threat, to scare her, to tease her into thinking she could learn the rules of this final round.

It was in the instant that the only light went out, casting her in complete and utter darkness, that Jenny realized the Shadow Man wasn't going to threaten her with a memory this time. He was going to do it in person.

She felt him behind her immediately, his body pressed flushed to hers so abruptly, as if the shadows had summoned him. Surprisingly, Jenny didn't flinch. She did freeze, feeling him there so suddenly, where she stood.

It was exactly like in the tiger's cage at the Shadow Park, after seeing him again, being afraid and shocked and relieved all at once-Jenny didn't know how to handle it. She stood there, waiting for him to make the first move, so she could counter him, like a Hunter should. She waited for him to touch her, to try and choke her or scare her or just say _something_ -

But he didn't. He stood there, looming behind her, his breath tickling the back of her neck, just like in the Maze when he teased her-

Jenny couldn't take it.

"Leave them out of this," she snapped, clearly.

Julian didn't answer her. All that came from him was a huff of breath that very well could have been a restrained laugh. Somehow, it made Jenny feel weak, undermined.

She was reminded immediately of the first time she saw him, how afraid she was, how quick she was to rise against him, to battle his game of wits and tricks. She had always been afraid of him, a part of her always had, but that was before he swore to her, before he promised to let nothing hurt her, before he saved her.

Being here now, in the shadows, at his mercy, brought on that old fear. Because now he did want to kill her now. He could, he got permission once. He'll get it again.

So Jenny didn't wait for him to draw out her fear any longer. "How long do you intend to play hide and seek like a coward?" she asked it firmly with no intention of playing around, and she must've made it clear because that's when he grabbed her.

He latched onto her as if he was falling and grabbing her for stability. One arm wrapped around her chest, pulling her back at an angle sharp enough to shock her. Jenny fought him immediately, snapping a rune to try and break his hold-But it failed. It shouldn't have-That one always worked, but he still had her. In fact, he had her tighter, tighter than he ever grabbed her. Jenny was trying to fight him, but her voice was choked in her throat-she couldn't even scream-

Then Julian's other hand appeared on the back of her head, right where it hurt, striking the hot pain all over again-Her wound. He had permission to her wound. _That's_ how he was going to kill her. He was going to tear her mind in half just like the way she was supposed to die four years ago.

Jenny had fallen still from the shock, voice still caught in her throat, body going weak as he rendered complete control over her with a single touch.

Then his voice was in her ear, hushed but loud at the same time, like white noise, running electricity in her blood. "Then you better start seeking."

In the next instant, Jenny was stabbing him. They were no longer in the living room but back at the Shadow Park, by the lighthouse. Only this time it wasn't his gut, but his chest. She was stuck there, holding the blade in him, forced to see that pain and betrayal up close, and felt the blood on her hands, forever staining her skin, all over again. She couldn't look away-couldn't move-couldn't fight. She was trapped there, in his pained gaze, in this horrible, horrible pain.

Then he was away from her and somehow Jenny just knew that he was dying. Somehow, his name was carved out, fading away, _because of her._

She screamed. The horrible realization ripping through her was harsh enough to break her from the nightmare. Jenny sat up so fast that her screams in the nightmare couldn't make it to reality. Her mind broke from the darkness, choking on her own breath, the pain-Oh, how badly it hurt; so much that Jenny couldn't even cry. It came in such a terrible ache in the back of her mind, so deep into the crevasse of her being that Jenny actually couldn't see for a minute. She had to remind herself to breathe, to calm herself down, and cradle the pain until it subdued enough for her to settle back into herself.

But even as Jenny found herself there, on Michael's couch, covered by a small blanket, the fear that settled into her heart was the greatest she ever felt. Jenny knew fear. She knew what it did to someone, how it was controlled. But this was the first time she felt such a fear that she couldn't even comprehend.

And it was over the death of a Shadow Man.

The dread, the guilt, was overwhelming. Jenny instantly buried her face into her hands, to wallow in this pain in the silence of her sleeping friends; That is, until the hand grabbed her shoulder.

"Hey-Hey," Tom was whispering to, tone firming once she jumped. "You ok?"

Oh. Seeing him all of a sudden was too much for Jenny. Awaking from a dream like that, about someone else-a demon none the less-and not her current boyfriend who she hadn't even noticed was sitting right next to her; it was too much.

Now that she looked around, the room was illuminated only by the slight beginning of a sunrise outside the window across the room. The archway to the kitchen sat like an adjacent black hole to the hallway. Everything was messed up in some way, either broken or overturned. Everything was still wet, staining the walls and floors. Even Jenny was still damp, as well as the couch.

Her friends were scattered around the rest of the room, all sound asleep. Summer and Audrey were on the floor on the other side of the coffee table, with Dee on the floor between it and the couch. Michael was in a chair he brought from the kitchen, and Zach was across from Jenny in the chair, closest to the hallway.

Seeing her cousin passed out on the chair across from her made her heart wrench on itself. Is this what he felt? This pain, back in the game? Oh, but to feel it for a demon-A Shadow Man who was hunting her and her friends down; the demon that controls fear and tortures on an hourly basis-

The demon that said he loved her. The one she betrayed.

For a while Jenny had to sit there in both physical and mental pain, cursing herself for this-this weakness. Her grandfather had always pried her on how well she destroyed her weaknesses. You couldn't kill a demon that fed off your weakness if you were giving him dessert. And here Jenny was, sitting there with five extra helpings.

Jenny was awake now, instincts calming herself quickly, but she was anything except ok. She knew the words weren't going to form right on her tongue, thus she merely nodded, hoping Tom would see it in the lack of light.

He did, judging by how his fingers relaxed on her shoulder, but his hand didn't move. "How are you feeling?" He whispered. "You hit your head pretty hard. Do you remember-"

"Yes." Jenny didn't mean to interrupt so she added, softer, "I mean, sort of. How did the water stop?"

"I broke the window."

"Oh…Good job."

"Thanks."

There was a pause where for the life of her Jenny didn't know what to say. The tension between them was obvious in the way he pulled his hand away from her.

"Zach stopped that…thing."

"Yeah, I saw."

"What was it?"

"I don't know."

Another pause.

Good God, this was torture. Jenny tried to look at him. He was sitting on the arm of her couch, a knife and flashlight in hand although it was currently off. Had he….been watching over her?

"How long have you been up?" she asked quietly.

"Doesn't matter. It's my turn to keep watch."

Jenny immediately sat up straighter, going slower once her head echoed the pain. "I'll take watch now. You get some-"

"No, you need your sleep."

"Tom-"

"That thing threw you down the hall. You need rest."

"I've been through worse."

And that was the final chord that snapped the tension in the air, making it ten times worse.

The fact that she never told him how she was carried and dropped by a mythical Gryphon creature, or chased by a troll and Korrigans and woodland monsters and zombies all at once, was nerve-wracking. To be thrown across the room by a leech monster and then act like it was nothing, she was basically slapping him in the face.

The guilt hit her the second he turned away from her in the dark, making the silence even worse. Jenny hated it. She had to say something.

"I'm sorry," she finally got out as clearly as she could. "Tom, I'm sorry. For everything. T-That I never told you or that I…."

She couldn't finish the rest. The words just didn't come to her. Judging by Tom's silence, it didn't even matter. So Jenny got up. At least she started to, to leave, before Tom stopped her.

"I-No, don't. Wait, it's just…"

Jenny sat back down, trying to meet his gaze, but he still didn't look at her. He took a minute to get the words right before he spoke, hushed. "I don't…I mean, I understand why you didn't tell us. Alright? I'm not mad about that. It's just…" Jenny watched him lean forward and set something down on the coffee table, probably the flashlight. He then began to rub his palms together, a nervous habit of his. "I can't understand all this hunting stuff. I don't need to know how you fight or what happens when you play these 'games'-"

"Tom-"

"I don't. Ok? Please, you don't have to give me the details, so just…tell me how it is."

He looked at her now, and Jenny could see the uncertainty in those glorious brown pools even in the shadows. "If you say you got this, then you got this. If you say we need to shut up and sit still then we will. If you just tell us….Tell _me_ , then I'll believe you without question, ok? Ok?"

Jenny was almost in shock, at how understanding he was being, after she flipped him over her shoulder, after she said the name of a demon while kissing him-

"Yes," she said too loudly, so she repeated herself quieter, "Yes. Yes-Ok."

Tom took a second to accept that before he looked away and nodded himself. "Ok, good. So then, just tell me…"

When his voice trailed off, Jenny thought he was waiting for her to explain, which if he was then Jenny had no idea where to begin or what to even say. But he spoke for her, clarified, and when he did, Jenny felt her heart stop.

"Tell me if I should be worried. Should I…be mad at you? About the…name-thing."

Oh.

Oh no.

This was worse. Worse than the awkward silence, than the tension in the air. Because Tom was being Tom. He was looking for the good in the situation that he knew nothing about. He knew no other way to fix this so he was literally just asking her.

Asking if he should be upset that she said his name. Asking if he should even be concerned that it happened-if it had actually meant **anything** -

Jenny couldn't take it. It was too much, because all she had to do was lie. To just say no, that it was just a trick, like she had before. He was asking so honestly, desperately waiting for her to tell him that she didn't care for a demon, that she didn't let him seduce her-She just had to say no and everything would be fine.

And yet, the truth fell numbly from her lips, beyond her control. "You should…."

She saw Tom whip his head around, looking at her in utter shock, but she didn't hold his gaze. She turned away from him, in shame, trying to hide in the shadows. She waited for him to curse at her, even yell, at least that would make her feel better, but he didn't. He said nothing. He didn't even move from her side. He just sat there, in shock, in pain.

So Jenny left. Without another word, she got up carefully and moved into the kitchen, illuminated only by the stove's dim orange glow. She hid behind the wall of the archway, where she had to cover her mouth to stifle whatever pathetic noise was crawling up her throat.

For the longest time she stood there, up until the morning came and the sunlight filled the room, she stood there trying to figure out which was worse-Betraying Julian, or betraying Tom.

….—

When all her friends finally woke up, Michael made pancakes, and after everyone ate they all seemed to get to work. Zach and Tom worked on covering up the window and marking it again. Dee and Audrey were actually working together on going over runes, while Summer and Michael started to practice drawing all the ones they knew so far.

Jenny was helping, but it felt too surreal. Twice she had to cut her finger to convince herself she wasn't in another nightmare. And when they all switched gears and Zach started showing them how to use the runes Jenny had carved into Michael's knives, Jenny found herself alone on the couch, writing. Anything. Everything. All the charms, all the spells, everything she remembered. Then she had a list narrowed down to just the Egyptian runes, the ones closely tied to Earth-Yes, like Dagaz, the operation between light and dark. If there was a trap with that rune….

No, she didn't even need the Egyptian traps. _Nauthiz_ was a trap in itself. She remembered that rune was involved in trapping the Shadow Men in the closet before, along with _Djew_ as a resounding barrier. But what else was it? There was something else. Would it work? If she trapped him-No, that would only make things worse. But Zach was right. They couldn't just sit here and wait. Jenny had to make the first move. Julian had told her, she better start seeking. The first move in a trap was the pull-the distraction.

If she could lure him out, maybe she could send him back to the Shadow World. It was a risky thought, but hell, since when was Shadow Hunting easy? Of course, the only way Jenny could end the game that way would be if she went with him. At least that would be away from her friends-off of Earth.

Jenny didn't realize how long she had been writing for until someone grabbed her shoulder. The table was covered in papers, symbols and notes scattered everywhere, even onto the couch around her. She was hunched over the table, completely isolated, taken over the whole couch. Zach was the one above her, gazing over the mess with a more content look than she expected. She found her friends in the archway to the kitchen getting water and snacks, a break from the practice.

"Do you remember that one rune from the 14th channel?" Jenny asked him before he could question her.

"What?"

"The rune-The one that….stalls the dark magic, helps divert it to create a channel for lighter powers-"

" _Pirul?_ "

Jenny immediately wrote it down, connected it to the scattered triangles of thoughts and traps she had written down.

Zach took one look to her notes, to a mess that anyone else would call her mad, and was able to process it in a heartbeat. "Do you plan on trapping him?"

"I don't know."

"On Earth?"

"No-I don't know. Grandfather did it. Maybe we could…draw him out. Before he attacks. So I can beat him. That way we don't have to just sit here and wait for his move. We can attack first."

Jenny was trading papers, analyzing one theory, comparing it with another-Then scratched one out completely. Those runes wouldn't work together, and those two seals would just cancel each other out, if he didn't interfere first.

Zach picked up the paper she tossed aside. " _Djew_ won't work with this."

"I know. I don't remember what does. It was something small, I remember but it was only in his journals." Jenny felt her mistake hit her in the chest as soon as she said. Thus she added quickly, "He explained it once, I think. I can hardly remember."

"What is?"

Jenny had to pause, put her pen down and think. She barely remembered the power their grandfather had mentioned. It was something he barely taught them because it was too…difficult. He barely understood it himself. He had come across it once before Jenny and Zach were born. Jenny remembered him mentioning it, he had to, but now all she recalled was….light. A lot of light.

"Are you guys talking about magic?"

Jenny looked up to find Summer across the coffee table, clutching a glass of orange juice between her small hands, staring down at the mess of symbols. Seeing one of her hand bandaged struck a terrible chord inside her.

"Yes," Jenny answered. "I think I have a plan."

"Great," Dee said proudly as she strode across the room then planted herself beside Jenny, chewing on what was left of her muffin. "What are we doing?"

Jenny admired the confidence in her friend's eyes, thus she didn't argue against it. "Trapping Shadow Men is very tricky. Our grandfather never taught us how, but in order to do it we have to draw them out. Get their attention, then grab them when they're not looking."

"Like a snare?" Michael asked a bit sheepishly across the room.

"Yes. But, again, he never taught us. I'm trying to figure out which rune goes where."

"So, what, you just throw them together?" Summer asked innocently.

Audrey was the one who laughed. "Oh, _mon ami_. It's not like that."

Jenny saw the disappointment in the small blonde's eyes, so she laid out the papers before her. "They're like switches. I have to lay them out in a certain order, then turn them on in a certain order at the right time."

"And if we mess up, we're screwed."

Tom's scorn made Jenny look up, to the disapproving look in his eyes, and immediately was conflicted by his anger. Yet it was Zach who countered him.

"That's why we have back-ups," he said firmly. "When one rune doesn't work, we have another. There are ways to stall him-"

"Which won't happen," Jenny interrupted. She made sure she looked Tom in the eyes when she said, "I always beat him."

Dee spoke before Tom could. "What do you need us to do?"

Jenny had to look away from, back to her papers-to the things she knew most. "Nothing right now. I just need to sort these out."

"I'll help," Zach said and sat down across from her on the floor. "I remember more than you."

Jenny was about to be upset, until she saw the playful look in her cousin's eyes. A look she hadn't seen since…they were in the basement, while training years ago. It was refreshing enough to make her smile. "Oh really?"

"I'll make you a glass of orange juice, Jenny!" Summer cried enthusiastically, then was dragging Michael back into the kitchen with her.

Audrey was up then, too, saying, "Hey hold on. _I_ just cleaned up your guy's mess!"

Dee followed, snapping, "You mean you made the mess."

Jenny laughed at them, but the burn in her temples was a painful reminder. Right, work. Not fun.

Surprisingly the next half hour went by smoothly. Her and Zach were actually able to work together. They went off each other's thoughts and memories and actually had a decent rough plan put together. Just as they did when they were kids, quoting each other on the runes, quizzing one another to make sure they didn't stumble or forget. It was oddly settling.

"So if we use the Celtic trap to lure him out-"

"We can use the Norwegian trap to snag him down."

"But won't this rune cancel out _Nauthiz_?"

"Not with this one."

Zach saw the connection, and made a face of "oh." "But wait. We don't have anything to seal the celtic trap into place."

Oh, right.

Before he could go on, Summer was pulling on his arm. Jenny didn't hear what she was asking him. She was staring at the papers, trying to find that rune. There was one more, a celtic one; she knew it, just on the tip of her tongue. What was it? Jenny closed her eyes tight, really tried to focus, but then the burn came to her temples, distracting her, making her hiss. The thought died, whatever it was.

Jenny opened her eyes to ask Zach, but she wasn't at the coffee table anymore.

She was standing in the kitchen, at the counter with Tom beside her. A half made sandwich was in front of her, next to a plate of already made sandwiches that Tom had. She had a knife in her hand, about to cut some salami.

"-you know?" Tom finished saying, but Jenny didn't remember the rest. She didn't remember…anything. How she got there, what was happening.

She didn't panic. Not yet. She took a second to take in the moment, to breathe, and think and fully accept the time gap. Slowly, she let the knife knick her finger, just enough to hurt, to allow the pain to show that she wasn't asleep-wasn't being tricked.

But if she wasn't being tricked then….how did she get here?

"Jenny?"

"I…I cut myself," she breathed out shallowly.

She moved numbly, wrapping her finger in a napkin. Her whole body ached in a very strange and frightening way. The room seemed unbalanced, as if she was standing on slanted ground. She had to grab the counter to stabilize herself.

"Jeez, are you ok?"

The fear that sparked in her quickly died when Tom grabbed her hand-No it was worse-He was touching her-Their fight-He was talking about the cut.

She tried to pull away gently, but the move came out much stiffer than she hoped. "Fine. Really. Just…didn't want to get blood on the sandwiches-Who had-What are we making again?"

Tom looked at her a bit oddly for a moment and it was in the silence that Jenny heard the rest of her friends laughing from the living room. "They're all the same," he answered eventually. "Except Summer doesn't want cheese. Are you ok?" His face changed again, this time a bit more surprised. "Did you want to talk about it later?"

God, she didn't even know what he had been talking about-When they started talking-

"Yeah, sorry. I….I-I have a headache."

She moved away before he could say anything else. Summer was sleeping on Dee's lap on the couch, who was also passed out. Audrey was on the other end of the couch, closest to Zach, while Micheal was anxiously looking out the window. The coffee table was still covered in papers which Zach watched a little uneasily as Audrey examined them.

"This one's Norse, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah, a lot of…uh…power comes from those. Kind of like a base, that the Egyptian ones go off of. It's how we make traps."

Traps! Right! Jenny had been working on that before…before…When had that been? What time was it? What _day_?

"What time is it?" she asked rather hastily.

Michael answered her just as fast. "3:22. Has that blue car always parked across the street?"

"Oh my God Michael. For the last time, it doesn't work like that.

"But-"

"They need permission, Michael," Zach clarified.

"But you said he has permission," Michael turned on Jenny, cocker-spaniel eyes wide with fear. "Right, jenny? That's what you said. He could get us like that."

"Uh…" Her temples throbbed. She lifted her hand to cradle the ache but stopped-too obvious. She needed to act normal. What was she doing again?

Jenny didn't realize how badly she was stammering on her words until Zach came to a stand. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, you don't look so good."

"I'm fine," Jenny mumbled, but it took all of her concentration to make it to the chair without stumbling. "Uh, Michael, he's not going to do something…stupid like a strange car across the street."

Michael's concern quickly returned out the window. "But you said he could be anything."

Somehow that stung more than it should have when Tom re-entered the room.

"Yes but I know him," jenny said anyway, through the burn in her mind. "He wouldn't waste his time like that. He'd rather give you a terrifying nightmare or snatch you away while you sleep or something."

Audrey actually winced at that and watched as Michael's eyes bugged out of his head. "I don't have any coffee. Oh God, how can I stay awake?"

"Michael, relax," Tom said. "Jenny wouldn't let that happen."

The weary confident look he gave her only made Jenny feel worse. Last time he had scolded her-When was that-What had they talked about-

The conversation went on, but Jenny couldn't hear it. She watched Audrey get Michael to sit down. She saw Summer complaining about her hand to Zach as she woke up, whose gaze was stuck on Jenny. Tom woke Dee up who snapped something at him that made them all laugh, but the sound came to Jenny choppy, almost mechanical. It was high pitched, unnerving, _wrong_.

It was the phone.

Everyone was staring at Jenny now-No, behind her, at Michaels' home phone that sat on the wall, ringing. It was there that Jenny's instincts kicked back in. Forget the confusion-There was a Shadow Man after them. She couldn't afford to be confused or-or-

"Don't answer it," she snapped, although no one had moved to do so.

The phone continued to ring. And ring. And ring.

"It-It could be my parents," Michael suggested.

"Or not," Dee countered.

It should have been a harmless gesture. Really, it could have been anyone. But it was the feeling in the air. The tight, anxious feeling that a deer gets in the woods-That everyone gets in the dark when they are alone. The feeling that you are no longer alone; that it's not someone friendly on the other line. Jenny had mastered this instinct, and it was probably her reaction, as well as Zach's, that had caused the whole room to be so still, rattled every other second by the noise. Everyone watched in silence as it rang again, twice more. Then it stopped.

They all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Well that was nice," Audrey finally said. "Now can we-"

It rang again.

Jenny was about to dismiss it, just to clear this awful atmosphere, until another phone went off. It was Audrey's. Only it wasn't her normal loud pop song ringtone, instead replaced by the dull, boring ring, like Michael's. It even made them all flinch in surprise. She actually went to reach for it, but stopped halfway.

Then another phone began to ring. Before they could find out whose it was, there was another. And another. Within seconds all of their phones began to ring, all in the same high pitch tone, again and again.

Summer was now covering her ears, fear raking through her giant sky blue eyes. Michael was holding onto Audrey, while Zach had his head bowed in the chair. Dee and Tom were looking at Jenny, who wasn't the least bit faltered.

"For the record, Michael," she said loud enough over the rings to be heard. " _This_ is a scare tactic. And a stupid one, at that."

She then knelt down, squeezing the blood from the cut she just made. She was planning to do the markings, to magically scan the area around them, but the second Jenny lowered herself to the ground, the dizziness over took her. She actually stumbled so bad that her face almost hit the floor. The burning was immediate in the back of her head, like a warning, making her hiss. She was too weak-No, but she needed to do it. To see where Julian was; to protect everyone.

Someone called for her, but Jenny didn't look to see who it was. No, she focused all her energy into painting the markings on the ground. She bit back the pain, ignored the throbbing in her temples, and drew the runes correctly, in the right order, as a Hunter should. But the second she tried to speak them aloud, the ringing from the phone's seemed to heighten, rising to a pitch that made Jenny's ears pop, increasing the pain. She had to grab her head, but she said the runes anyway.

The ringing stopped right as the heat struck Jenny in the back of the head like a massive flare. The scanner that ran through her mind was beckoned with a million sparks, racing through her very being in a white hot pain so sudden that she couldn't even scream. Whatever the spell showed her melted into the pain immediately, resulting in her with her head on the ground, cradling her temples.

Slowly, her friend's voices came to her, disoriented, and _wrong_.

"Jenny!"

"What's wrong?"

Someone was trying to help her up, which Jenny denied. She couldn't be hurt-She was the only one who could fight. She _had_ to be ok. But simply sitting up was difficult and when Jenny released her head, she felt the blood on her palms, from her ears, which were ringing-No, the phones.

"Jesus!"

"Jenny!"

"What do we do?"

"Call someone-"

"But the _phone_."

Yes, the phones. The damn phones that were still ringing and making the pain in jenny's mind worse. It was Julian-His stupid tricks. He was scaring them all, and she was just sitting there-

They were panicking. Jenny felt it; the same panic trying to creep its way into her heart-which she pushed away. She had to. As a Hunter-As _Jenny._ She forced herself to look up, to meet her friends' eyes and tell them that she was fine-that they were all going to be fine. She found them scattered around the room, all waiting anxiously for the phones to stop, one by one.

Only they didn't. Jenny knew they weren't going to. They just kept ringing and ringing, getting louder and louder until the ringtones grew distorted, morphing into ugly, harsh noises that screamed around the room.

Summer was still covering her ears. Michael was hiding behind Dee, who looked ready to punch something at any moment. Audrey and Tom were next to Jenny, while Zach was now alone in the corner, clenching his eyes shut. It was seeing him, seeing his struggle, how he was grinding his teeth, fists clenched at his sides, that made Jenny's instincts come alive.

She was on her feet, grabbing the wall to catch herself when it felt like the world shifted under her. She snatched Michaels phone off the kitchen wall and answered it without a moment's hesitation. "Very sloppy, _Julian_ ," she hissed into the phone like she wasn't about to collapse.

She had expected the static, the strangled dial tone, the chaotic sounds. If Julian was going to talk to her at all, she was prepared for it; an insult, a rune, even just her name. She was ready to spit fire at him. But when the voice did come through the static, just loud enough to be understood, Jenny found that it wasn't Julian's voice at all.

It was her grandfather's.

 _"Give up, Jenny..."_

Everything in Jenny, everything she was froze in an instant.

" _You can't beat this. You have...to let him win-"_

Jenny threw the phone so fast that she missed it, smashing it on the kitchen floor in a heartbeat. It caused Summer to shriek from surprise, and Dee to launch by her side.

"What is it? What happened? What did he say?"

Jenny heard her. She heard the phones still going off, how they all melded into white noise that seemed to rip through the air like a breeze, tousling their hair, but Jenny couldn't respond. She was stuck standing there, staring at the pieces of the phone on the ground, hearing that voice-that voice _after so long_ , grinding into her mind, mixing with the pain-

The attack came from behind. Perhaps she would have been ready for it if her mind wasn't going into a panic, temples burning with bittersweet memories. She felt it, the rush of something incredibly powerful and _deadly_. She turned right as it hit her, but there was a blur, a massive rush of cold. It happened too fast. One moment chaos was ensuing all around her, then just as fast as it had come it was gone.

Jenny was still standing, only not in the living room anymore.

No, Jenny was twelve years old. She could tell by the way the third bookcase towered over her with such ease. The smell of sulfur was strong in the air, burning Jenny's nostrils as they always had. She recognized the chill in the air, the way it tingled her bare arms and shins, how it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand tall. "To prepare her," her grandfather had always said. Jenny was just standing there in her grandfather's basement, taking it all in, the fog in her mind slowly clearing, instincts coming to-

She felt the attack coming again, directly behind her. She ducked just in time to feel the weight go passing over her head. She jumped as she turned, fists up and ready to take whatever was coming at her. That is, until she looked up and saw him.

Her grandfather was there, posted firmly behind her. The elderly man was in fine shape for his age, with only a slight belly. His face was wide but wise, covered in numerous wrinkles, especially around his eyes. The firm green pools were like sharp edges of jade, pinning little Jenny right in her place, with the faint scar over his left eye. His gray hair was receding, but the look only added to the intensity of his appearance. He wasn't buff, but his muscles were clear under rolled-up sleeves of his shirt. The dark skin of his arms was marred with lighter pink scars, some worse than others, with fading marks of various symbols. In his hands were a long black club and a matted pad.

Suddenly seeing him, and the glorious background of his basement behind him, made all of Jenny's blood drain to her toes. Her knees went weak-She almost collapsed, she really did, because he was right there, standing over her, with the dull light of the basement above him and his messy desk right off to the side and his journals-But he couldn't. He was-was-

He swung for her again, swiping the long club for Jenny's chest. She just barely dodged it, pathetically, too, a mere stumble back. She saw the disappointment cross those jade eyes.

"Faster," was all he snapped at her.

He swung again, and Jenny was able to dodge it better, like he had taught her. He swung it back the other way, higher, and Jenny ducked under it, as she pivoted, landing beside him. Her instincts were thriving now without question-making her move as she was supposed to. She quickly dove forward, knowing his next blow was going to come for her legs. She caught herself on her hands, rolled, and came back up on her knees. She snatched the first thing she saw, an enchanted blade from his desk, and turned on him faster than she ever had. When he faced her once again, the contentment came over his wrinkles, ending in a nod.

"Good," he said softer, and oh it was so good to hear his voice again-The slight rumble in its deep tone. Jenny could only stand there, slightly catching her breath, as he turned and set the objects down on the desk. "You're getting better at thinking on your toes. It's good. Games are not going to be mapped out for you."

It didn't make sense. He was going on, clarifying every move and every step as thorough as always, but Jenny couldn't hear it. She was staring at him, at his image, as he grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off his head, then offered it to her-Right, Jenny remembered this. The wound on his left arm, the one outstretched to her, was still healing. That was from practice in the backyard, when Zach tripped during an offense move and cut their grandfather up the forearm. Jenny remembered this. Her cousin was probably running laps around the house upstairs right now while she worked on her footwork with the Master.

But…. she was just at Michaels. With her friends, the attack-the game-Julian.

Her grandfather was staring at her, still holding the towel out to her. Jenny didn't take it. She was clutching to the blade in her hand so tight her knuckles were white-sweating. She felt ready to fall apart. She blinked at him once, twice, then let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding in.

"I…. I-I don't understand," she finally breathed.

Her grandfather didn't look surprised. His arm dropped back to his side as he looked her over very carefully, then he sighed and threw the towel back on the desk. "That's most likely," he said tiredly, "due to your injury."

Jenny didn't get it at first. When she did, the blade fell from her fingers and clanked against the ground.

Wait, no, this wasn't right. She-She was only twelve-No, she wasn't. This was before the closet, before the attack, before she got the wound-before Julian saved her-

She hadn't met Julian yet. But she knew, she still remembered everything. That thought made her look passed her grandfather to the bookcase resting firmly against the wall. The door behind it, the Shadow Men inside-Was…he watching her? He had to be, right? He had shown her-told her…

The touch actually scared Jenny. Her grandfather's hand, so large, so rough from all the callouses and scars, came to her face gently. It wrapped around her cheek, to the back of her head, where he cradled it in such a firm grip that Jenny's neck went weak. He was looking down at her with such a face, mouth turned down, wrinkles lining his baggy features.

"I never wanted you to take my burden," he said quietly, and the sincerity in his voice was too much. It stung in Jenny's chest, her eyes, her mind-

"I wanted to prepare you. To do good in the world…. You are strong, Jenny. I've seen it. I know you've become a fine Hunter. But you are too rash."

Before Jenny could even relearn how to speak, nevertheless think of what to say, he dropped his hand away from her. The solemn look in his eyes was like a physical pain, one that radiated from him to Jenny.

"You have to let him win, Jenny."

Then he turned away, as simple as that, and began to leave. The panic came immediately-too fast. Jenny jumped after, reaching for him.

She screamed, "Wait!" but when she touched him, everything was knocked away.

From the side, she was tackled by something hot and strong. It knocked her right through the ground, through the illusion, back onto the ground of Michael's living room. It didn't make sense-Discombobulated, disoriented. The heat ruptured through her head like a million sparks the second she hit the ground. She didn't have time to scream or wallow in the pain because the creature on her back was pinning her down. She latched onto whatever had her and rolled at the same time as she gave a sharp kick. But the hands were wrapping around her neck from behind her, unrelenting and unmovable as jenny tried to fight them off her back. She couldn't see what it was since it had her pinned from behind, but it didn't matter. She managed to get to her side, fighting through the hits she was receiving to her back, before she heard her friends' screams.

"Zach what are you doing!?"

"Zach, Stop!"

It took her mind half a second to realize the thing on her was not a beast of shadows, but her cousin, and she immediately knew what was wrong. Thus, she stopped throwing her elbow back into his chest. Instead she tangled her legs with his and kicked herself off the ground. But Zach was strong, wrestling her back down, bending her arm back far beyond what it was capable of, matching the pain in her temples. Jenny screamed.

Dee grabbed Zach by the shoulders, attempted at yanking him off, but Zach spat a charm so fast that Jenny didn't even hear him. The power struck Dee across the head, knocking her out instantly. She landed in front of Jenny on the floor, where the shadows were already consuming her. They were filling up the room now-Jenny hadn't even noticed. He was here-Julian-Coming to get them and she hadn't-

She needed to stop them. She needed to stop Zach, to snap him out of it, to stop Julian and send him back and save her friends and live-

Jenny had to say a rune of her own where the power was enough leverage for her to get her arm free. She then launched her head back without thinking, smacking it right into Zach's face. She was supposed to use his moment of pain to flip him off her and pin him back down, but the pain was too much. The hit only deepened it, driving it to the center of her mind, where it traveled down her neck, to her chest, constricting her breathing. She was sitting there writhing on the floor, until she blinked through the pain and saw her cousin getting back up. She threw herself on top of him despite the pain, but he was wrestling her-He always was stronger than her,

"Zach, snap out of it!" She screamed but she could already see it, how endless those gray pools were. Her cousin wasn't there to hear her.

She saw Audrey moving in her peripheral vision, but Jenny snapped instantly, "Don't touch him! He's tranced-He doesn't know what he's doing!"

Yet Zach snapped another charm, and Jenny felt the energy smack her right in the chest, stealing her breath. Then she was on her back once more, where her cousin jumped on her chest. He stole one of her blades from her waist belt and it took all of Jenny's strength to block his forearm. She had both her arms braced against his, pushing against him to keep the blade from coming any closer to her chest than it already was. But the harder she pushed against his arm, the worse the pain in her temples grew, forming denser and denser in her mind.

Zach's face was so contorted, so harsh as he glared down at Jenny-At what he thought was someone else. "I won't," he was groaning. "I won't let you take her!"

"Zach!"

"I won't!"

"Zach It's me! Open your eyes! _Dagaz!_ " Although jenny screamed it properly, the power had no effect. In fact, it only spurred the dark magic controlling him, and pushed the blade further. The sharp point connected with her skin, just enough to draw blood, making jenny hiss at the sharp pain. But it was that pain that sparked her instincts, the harsher side of herself, into control.

Jenny twisted her cousin's wrist as far to the side as she could right before she lurched up and collided her head with his once again. The pain was immense-blinding- but all jenny could do was scream as she twisted away from her cousin, kicking him in the chest as hard as she could. Her body rolled away-where the ground was gone and she fell.

In a flash-Gone-Replaced by wind, gravity. She fell, and hit water. The icy shock was too much. Jenny choked on it, thrashed under the surface until her instincts kicked her up, to the surface. She broke with a gasp, and stuttered for her breath. She searched the new surrounding among her shock, and instantly knew she wasn't going to find her cousin or friends.

Because she was in the cave.

Back to twelve years old, to the underwater cavern that she fell in back in the closet, with the slender rocky walls that arched up completely around her, when she pushed Julian too far-

She turned around, and there he was, just as it had really happened four years ago. Presented as a teenager, sitting on the sliver of land, soaking wet. He wasn't laughing like he was before, but he was staring at her, watching her.

Jenny didn't know what to do. She floated there for a long moment, bobbing in the cold water like a dead fish, just _staring_ at him. Right, she had…said something. After he laughed, she snapped something at him, cocky, then he-

His hand was out, offered to her without a word, just as before, and Jenny knew, just like the first time, that she wasn't going to take it. She couldn't. She was just floating there, unable to climb back on that rock beside him like she had done before.

It was shockingly calm here, just as it had been the first time-No, the _only_ time. This wasn't real. This was a trick. This was-She-She was-She had to-

His voice surprised her. "Let me help you, Jenny."

For some reason, the words didn't sit right. "From what?" She heard herself ask, voice echoing off the rocks.

"Let me help you," he repeated in the same still tone.

"From what?"

Julian's face changed now, from satisfaction to confusion.

Jenny was still in the water, still staring. "I don't understand-What are you doing? Put me back!"

"Let me help you, Jenny," he said once more, but his tone had changed with his face, tighter.

" _From what?!_ "

Julian got up, on his knees, reaching farther out to her. His next words seemed to echo far more deeply in Jenny's mind than they should have. "Give me permission."

She couldn't take it. Nothing made sense. It was muddled and cold and, it hurt-Jenny was moving away from him.

Julian's eyes widened in a flash, contorted into a face that Jenny had only seen once-When she dropped out of the closet, when he was losing her. He jumped to the very edge of the land pit, shouting, " _Jenny!"_

Jenny was under the water in the next second. She felt the familiar pain around her ankle, the whip like tentacle dragging her down-down faster than anything human could ever do. She was swallowed by the cold immediately, and felt it worsen the farther down she was taken, and soon the shadows took over everything, leaving her blind. But she didn't need to see the Leviathan to know where it was taking her. It just didn't stop swimming, taking her farther and farther down, Justas it had done before; down to the point where the light no longer existed, where the shadows and the cold reigned over everything.

Her head was swollen, fit to burst at the sides, pressure squeezing against her brain, her nerves-She couldn't do anything accept cradle it, writhing. The call of her name scraped through the burning walls of her mind, grabbing her attention just enough to actually open her eyes.

She was on the floor of the living room once more. Audrey was on the floor across from her, unconscious, and Tom was nowhere in sight, leaving a terrified pair of Michael and Summer standing in hysterics at the doorway of the kitchen. Behind them was a massive pit of blackness, an endless vortex of shadows and power looming over them. Tendrils crawled out from it like claws, currently dragging Audrey's and Dees unconscious bodies towards it.

Jenny couldn't even scream. She tried to stand, but then she was back on the floor, time lapping, pain radiating. As she struggled to push herself up, she saw the movement in this corner of her eyes. She braced herself for her cousin's attack but when she found him, he wasn't coming at her. In fact, he was moving away from her.

He was crawling-no, scrambling away from her, almost in a panic. But he wasn't looking at her. His eyes, pale and distant, were on the ground. His face-his mind was anywhere but there on the floor on the living room as the utter fear began to tear over his face, through his mouth first, turning it down, then his eyes, his heart.

"No," he was mumbling, getting louder and louder the farther away he moved. "No no no no no no no no-" Soon he hit the back of the couch, face completely contorted with horror and PAIN-

He was losing it, Jenny knew. Whatever Julian did to him, he was losing-falling fast. Jenny felt the guilt and the same horrible fear tear through her with every tear that began to fall from her cousin's eyes.

She got up. She had to. She forced herself to her knees, which rocked the world hard enough to threaten sending her back on the floor. She needed to get to him, to snap him out of it, but then Summer was wailing. The shadows were closer.

Jenny quickly snapped a rune and it immediately backfired. Jenny felt the pain echo down her throat to her heart, suffocating it for half a second. It was a sharp, unexplainable pain-like having your entire body shut down and jump start back up, as if shocked back to life-only worse. The resulting wave of tensing pain and nausea was sickening.

But Jenny was getting to her feet anyway. She felt the blood, once more dripping from her ears-No, both ears, pouring down her neck. But her cousin was now huddled away in the corner. Summer was a screaming ball on the kitchen floor. Michael was a shell-shocked statue, doing nothing but stare as the tendrils of shadows began to grab at his clothes, to pull him in-

 _"Dagaz_!"

The shadows snapped away from him, but so did Jenny's strength. She felt it, the terrible crack in her mind-her wound- _spreading_. It was enough to make her grab her temples and scream, but she said the next rune anyway-the spell that was supposed to reach her cousin-to try and wake him up-but jenny couldn't see anymore. Every time she opened her eyes it was nothing but a burning white stretching over everything. Every thought was a landmine, every breath an aftershock. She couldn't focus-She had to stop them-her grandfather-Julian-Zach-summer-

Another scream ripped through the air and for the life of her jenny couldn't tell who it came from. She was going to pass out-collapse-she could feel it. She couldn't say another rune. If she did, her mind-But-She couldn't- **stop them** -

But someone shouted for her, someone she knew.

Tom. Jenny couldn't see him, but she knew she heard the fear in his voice.

Jenny started the chant, and only got through the first two runes before her mind ruptured in half.

Like a searing metal stake through her head, pressing through the very middle of her mind until Jenny felt it tear in half. It burst, flooding her mind, her very being with a heat that didn't exist-erasing everything. Time. People. Life. Meaning. It came so fast and yet so slow to her. All at once it was too much.

Then nothing. Gone. Still. Numb.

It was surprising how simply it all ended. One minute unbearable, loathing pain, then it was gone. Just like a pinch. She felt weightless-Consciousness slowly sinking down into the water-being dragged by the Leviathan, into the cold embrace of death. So simple.

Well dying wasn't as bad as she feared. It was everything else, knowing who she was leaving behind-who she left in trouble, that caused her to suffer. As her body took in too much water, shadows, cold, she was left to imagine what would happen to Audrey and Dee, taken by the Shadow Men. Would they experience a similar fate? What about Tom? Tortured? Would Zach be left in that corner, forever alone in the horrors of his mind. And Michael, and Summer, her parents, their families-

All her fault.

She was choking, the lack of air in her lungs only increasing the numbing pain in her temples. The cold had seeped to her bones, going so deep that it actually burned. She was mixed with a pain of hot and cold, harsh and yet soft, inside and out. Strange; she knew the pain was there and yet…she didn't feel it. Her body was collapsing on itself, mind imploding. How odd it was, to feel the very fabrics of your mind being torn apart, down to the last nerves, to feel it shred like tissue paper so easily, and to not feel any pain. She didn't feel anything now. She fell into the shadows, helplessly, limp.

Just like they wanted.

Right the Shadow Men. The game. She had lost. Julian…finally won.

There was a time gap. Jenny hadn't realized how long she had been dead for before the light came to her. It was too bright, trying to break through her closed eyelids. She tried to open them, but she couldn't feel them-couldn't see. It was impossible to tell anything. Was she still drowning? She felt like she was floating. Not a body, just an essence between the worlds. She couldn't tell.

Time drifted wearily around. Jenny floated in it, nothing more than a freckle of existence in all the nine worlds. It didn't hurt anymore. It was fine. Everything was going to be ok. The white light came, so soft and gentle. It was so bright that it consumed everything-her sight, her thoughts, her mind. It invaded her so easily, slipping through the body she didn't have, to her very worn out muscles. It made its way into her mind, where it caressed the hidden wound there-

Her wound.

The pain was back but Jenny didn't have the breath to scream. She didn't even have a body to writhe. It was a very tangible pain, one that coursed through your soul. It seemed to electrify everything jenny was in a very sharp coarse way. The light only got brighter because of it. It caressed her, filled her mind to the brim with this light, this essence. She tried to fight it at first-She didn't want the pain, but it overcame her anyway. There was some kind of spasm, a jump in time, then it was over.

It was a long while before jenny settled back into herself. One moment it was pain and nothingness, then she was being carried. Her body, just a massive dead weight under her consciousness, was being moved. Were her eyes open? Oh, it was so hard to tell with the light. Was that the figure of a man above her or was she going crazy?

No, you're dying remember?

It wasn't so bad. Every other time had been lengthening, painful. This time wasn't. It was gentle. She was carried into the light, smoothly, until the shadows of sleep slowly invaded into her mind. It took over the light first, piece by piece, until it was too much. Jenny didn't fight it. She allowed herself to fall into the shadows. Just as the shadow men wanted her to. Oh, realizing that was painful, but Jenny didn't have the strength to wallow in it because then she was out. Dead. Gone.

 **-….**

Everything was quiet except the mindless ticking of a clock somewhere. It was calm, soothed by the gentle breaths passing through lungs. Inhale. Tick. Exhale. Tick. Inhale. Jenny opened her eyes. Exhale. The room was still, normal. Inhale. There was a picture of her Aunt, Uncle, and Zach on the wall, next to a picture of herself as a baby. Exhale. A glass of water, some rags, and bandages sat on the coffee table beside her. Inhale. She knew that table. Exhale. Her dad made that table in his college years. She was on the couch, lying down, wrapped in blankets and a cold rag on her forehead. At first it was all just a haze, to lie there and blink and see and breathe. But then it all hit her. Her wound-She had died-

But she was breathing. She was awake and breathing and blinking and panicking-

Her finger was cut in the next moment before jenny even realized she was doing it. Her ring, open, now dripped her blood down her finger. The pain was sharp, hot. Jenny even put the small cut in her mouth where the iron was strong on her tongue. Strong enough to snap her instincts away.

She sat up fast, dropping the blankets that were layered over her, rag falling off her head. Something was wrong. She was alone. The room looked normal but she was laying there, alone, in different clothes than before and an ice pack on the table next to her with some water and something was wrong-

Her hand shot to the back of her head. It...it didn't hurt. Not even the slightest bit. Actually, nothing hurt at all. She had sat up without even getting dizzy. Her temples didn't ache. Her back didn't scream at her. The bandages were even gone from her arm, without so much as a single scar. Her mind was clear, as if she had the best night of sleep in her life. She actually felt good-

The sound of a door closing made Jenny flinch. The entry way was just around the corner, next to the kitchen. She heard voices-familiar-warm.

Jenny was in such a state of euphoria that she stood up. No dizziness. No nausea. Just…perfect.

The voice was muffled, quiet, but she heard it. "No, she hasn't."

She didn't hear the next voice as well, so she moved closer. Carefully, as if she was walking on needles. Of course, this could have been very wrong. This could be something utterly horrible, like a nightmare, a hallucination to make her feel warm and happy and to have it crushed when she realized she was actually in Limbo or Hel, being tortured-

But she felt fine. Her instincts were calm. She wasn't being tricked. She just _knew_.

"You know, I don't think you should be here when she wakes up."

Jenny knew that voice. She grew up with that voice. But the sternness behind it… Zach sounded pissed.

Jenny was almost to the corner, ready to round it and confirm what was happening, until she heard it.

"How can you just trust him like that?"

It was Tom, fierce and unrelenting. She stopped there, stuck just outside the archway to the kitchen, and listened to her cousin and boyfriend argue.

"He almost killed us."

"He still could have," Zach snapped. "You don't understand how deals with demons work."

"He made you attack her! Isn't that right? And you just went along with it-"

"Get out."

"How do we know she's ok? Huh? Because a demon said so?"

"I promised to call everyone when she wakes up and is ready to- _Hey_!"

Jenny wasn't ready. Tom came storming around the corner so fast that she jumped back. Zach was right behind him, grabbing him by the shoulder to whip him around. But they both saw Jenny and Jenny saw them and the shock was just enough to have everyone still for a good ten seconds.

Then Zach was on her, hands on her face, in her hair, trying to hold up her weight as if she was about to fall. He was spitting too many questions at once, gray eyes wide in shock as he looked her up and down and all over. "A-Are you alright?" He was spitting, "How are you standing-How's your head-Do you hurt-Where does it hurt-Your wound-Your head-My God how are you _up_ -"

"Zach- _Zach_ ," Jenny had to grab him back, to still him. Once she met those wild eyes of his, she was actually able to smile and say, "I'm fine. Really. What were you guys- "

"You are _not_ fine!" Zach snapped immediately. "You were dead-You-" His own words seemed to hit himself harder than they did Jenny because for a moment he choked on his own breath, causing him to swallow that down. He continued softer, hesitantly-terrified. "You-I saw you-You collapsed. You were dead."

It was there in his face, that other worldly fear; a look so forlorn and painful that words really didn't describe. A pain so familiar that Jenny realized it must have been the same face he made when he saw her four years ago, on the floor of the basement with her head cracked open. The face she made when she found him unconscious in the maze. The look he had when he broke from Julian's hold to find her on the living room floor, lifeless.

But she wasn't dead. She was breathing and she was here and had cut her finger to prove it and she felt just so _right_ , like all the pieces had finally been put back together. Jenny had to look him in the eyes, to settle herself there like she did on that stormy night years ago, when she had to calm him from panicking. Just like then, she grabbed his face with both of her hands, cradling it so that he focused solely on her.

"I am ok," she said clearly, firmly. "I'm here, really. On Pethro-And my head-The wound, it doesn't hurt."

It was actually saying it aloud, while looking into her cousin's eyes, that it seemed to finally hit her. That her wound didn't hurt. That her wound….no longer existed. She was ok. Really, after all these years. The reason she wasn't allowed to fight. The reason her life had taken a 180-degree shift. After everything, she was ok. **Finally**.

The tears were inevitable. Zach was crying as well. And when Jenny repeated the fact, he yanked her in his arms. Even though Zach never was the type for hugs, he squeezed her harder than he ever did in practice. Jenny squeezed him back, and she felt the strength in her muscles, the warmth of her cousin's body heat.

When she opened her eyes, she found Tom in the same spot over her cousin's shoulder. He was just a few feet away, standing shell-shocked, jaw open, staring at her. She was just as thankful to see the relief on his face, but it was seeing him-remembering the last she saw of him-hearing his scream for help-that instantly snapped Jenny back.

She yanked away from Zach, held him at arm's length and asked, "What happened? Where's everyone?"

Neither of them answered. Not right away. Zach had to take a moment to hear the question, take it in, then the realization slowly cleared his face of all liberation. He wiped the tears off his face, then gave Tom a glance.

"You don't remember?" Tom asked.

"I-Uh…" Oh how to put it all into words. "It's kind of a blur. I remember the phones, and fighting-"

"Why don't…we sit down."

Jenny didn't refuse Zach's help. She allowed him to lead her over to the couch and to sit down the same place she woke up. He offered her something to eat or to drink the water that was on the table. Jenny's instinct was the deny it, to get on with the conversation, but the second he mentioned food, Jenny realized she was utterly starving. She felt so empty, like she hadn't eaten in days.

"I'll go grab something," Tom said a bit uneasily, then ran off back to the kitchen, leaving Jenny and Zach alone.

Zach was sitting on the coffee table, almost parallel to Jenny. He was rubbing his hands together quietly, purposely not meeting her gaze.

So Jenny pushed him to talk. "Where's everyone? Are they alright? Did they-"

"No," Zach answered immediately. "I mean, they're ok. They're home. The game's…over."

" _What_?"

"Ok, just take it easy. Alright? It's-It's gonna be hard to explain so-"

"What do you mean, it's over? What happened?"

"Jenny."

"Julian was here, right? Wasn't he taking everyone?"

"Yes, he was, but…"

Jenny honestly waited for him to go on, but he seemed to bite back the words. " _But what_ , Zach? What happened?"

"He stopped."

It was Tom who said it, walking back in with a plate of reheated pizza. Oh, the smell was too much for Jenny. She snatched it off the plate before Tom could put it down on the table. The heat burned her mouth but she was so thankful for it, so glad to wolf down the grease and stale cheese.

That was, until Tom finished with, "Because you collapsed."

Jenny had to swallow in order not to choke. Zach continued before Tom could.

"We…We couldn't see him. He was using the shadows-Like Grandfather always said. He was manipulating us from the shadows-everywhere, and you…You were in and out." He met her gaze now, to ask her wholesomely. "Do you remember that? You would use runes to stall him, then you were…. seizing on the floor."

Jenny didn't answer. She was stuck sitting there, trying to imagine the horrible image of herself on Michael's living room floor, fighting one minute then hallucinating and falling around the next.

"You seemed ok," Tom added, "For a minute. But then you just…fell."

Zach shamefully dropped his head and Jenny watched his hands slowly ball into fists. She knew immediately that he was blaming himself, cursing himself for being unable to do anything, as he probably sat there in the corner, and watched her. She wanted to calm him, to reassure him, but she couldn't make herself move. Instead, she numbly took another bite of pizza, swallowed.

"What happened after that?" She asked quietly.

"Julian showed up."

Zach answered it so plainly, in such a monotone that Jenny dropped her pizza.

It was hard for Zach to begin explaining, cutting himself off a lot and sighing. "He-Ugh, he just…appeared. Everyone was…stuck then. He had us, just like that. The shadows were _real_ ; it was-He was over you, but he…couldn't touch you."

Jenny was picturing it; her friends trapped against the walls, in the shadows, with Julian reigning in the center of the room, over Jenny's body-her dead body-

"That's when Zach-"

"Shut up," Zach cut Tom off immediately, turning around to snap in his face. "You don't get to explain because you don't understand."

"Are you gonna tell her about the deal you made?"

Jenny was on her feet again, looking down at her cousin sharply, remembering the last deal he had made. "You _what_?"

"Sit down," Zach said surprisingly firm since he was just crying a minute ago. "It's not as it sounds."

Jenny wasn't too sure how to feel, but she saw the anger in Tom's eyes and the hesitation in Zach's, and everyone was ok, she was alive, and Julian was….

Jenny sat back down, quietly, doing her best to remain patient when she had so little answers.

Zach took a minute to get the words right before he spoke. He sat there, staring at his hands for a long while before he bit his lip, swallowed the fear, and asked, "Do you remember…the _Lumen Dei_?"

For once, Jenny didn't recall the foreign name. She tried, really tried to pick her brain about the name and why it felt like she should know it. Zach finally looked up among her silence where she shook her head at him.

"They're the Gods of Light. The Greeks called him Apollo, and the Egyptian's called him Atum, Africa-Heilos, but it's not just one. There are many. They're…"

Jenny hadn't seen a look like _that_ on her cousin's face since…God she couldn't remember when. He looked amazed and yet shocked at the same time, entirely lost in what he was describing. He wasn't even looking at her-No, he was seeing what he described, all over again, exasperated, baffled beyond reason.

"They were amazing, Jenny. They were just…bodies of light-Deities. They serve all the nine worlds, restoring order an-and everything. And they knew who we were. They knew Grandfather. They said he found them, talked to them. They're the ones we've been borrowing power from. _This whole time_ -They've been helping us. Shadow Men are-are their natural enemy. They fight them and they like us because we're the last of Hunters on Earth and-and-"

He was going on, but Jenny didn't catch the ending of his rant. She remembered, just enough; what she was trying to remember before, before Julian attacked them, before she died. That moment in the basement, sitting on the floor, listening to their Grandfather only begin to explain to them. It was about this, about why they did what they did- _How_ they did it all. But he never finished the story. Jenny remembered. He was saving it, for when they were older, when they actually fought a Shadow Man, so they could understand-truly understand.

Jenny understood now. She could imagine the beings of light, the gods that they borrow power from to stall the demons of darkness. She understood how the runes never failed her, because the Gods were literally on her side. What she couldn't imagine was her cousin in the same room as them, talking to them, how he got there.

So, she pressed him with her gaze, drilling passed his excitement and wonder to the reality of the situation, to explain further. Zach saw it, of course he did, and he quickly swallowed it down. He dropped his eyes to the floor again.

"When you collapsed, Julian grabbed me and he forced me to make a deal with him. To go with him-There-Where they were…So I agreed-"

"What were the conditions?" Jenny asked instantly. "What did you swear to?"

"To take you there," Zach answered her quickly. "I…I-I don't know how we got there. It was just…so bright. And I had to carry you and you were…"

" _Zach_."

Zach shook off that horrified image, had to look up at his cousin breathing, living before him. The look on her face was almost terrified, waiting for him to continue. And he knew that it was going to affect her more than it should, so he just said it.

"He traded himself for you. They took him and saved you, and I brought you back here."

Jenny's heart stopped.

Just for a minute, just enough to stop her breathing, just enough to hurt.

She sat there, stiff, taking in the fact, trying to imagine her dead body in her cousin's arms and Julian before some beings of light and _sacrificing_ himself to save her-a Hunter-A demon for a Hunter. No that…that just wasn't right. She should be dead. Her friends should be dead. Julian should be victorious, with all their souls. Zach should be crazy. They all should be-be-be-

"He's dead, Jenny."

"No."

"Jenny-"

"No!" She repeated louder, on her feet. "No, he wouldn't-Why would he do that? He's not supposed to-"

"I know!" Zach had to shout it in order for the words to reach Jenny over her rising panic. He even grabbed her arms, on his feet as well. He continued softer, "I know, I'm sorry. I believe you now. He _was_ different. He…" Zach couldn't look her in the eyes, finishing with them on the floor once again. "He just wanted you to live. It doesn't make any sense, but… That's all he asked for. He didn't even fight them."

Jenny felt weak. And sick and dizzy and tired all over again.

Zach sat her back down and for a long while, she just sat there, processing the realization, the guilt, the pain.

She shouldn't be alive. She shouldn't have lived that blast from four years ago. And yet she had, because of a demon. A demon who wanted her so much that he gave up everything for in. And in the end, he even gave himself.

It was too much to bare. Jenny didn't feel perfect anymore. She had been wrong. She wasn't ok.

Jenny missed what Tom said, but Zach was up, countering him. They were arguing again, quickly, but Zach cut it off.

"Look, enough. She's fine. Let's go tell everyone." Zach faced Jenny again, who was sitting with her eyes closed, just feeling. "Jenny… _Jenny_."

She made herself look at him.

"Why don't you get some rest?" He urged gently, nudging for the stairs. "Aunt and Uncle are at my house until dinner so…Please."

Jenny knew that look. She hadn't seen it in a while, since she had tried talking about Hunting when her Mom was about to walk in the room and he had given her that look-A faux look, a diversion. Jenny didn't quite understand it now, unless he was saying something that…. couldn't be said in front of Tom. Like what?

Perhaps he was just giving her space.

Jenny nodded and watched Zach drag Tom out of the house. Once they left, Jenny knew they wouldn't be back with the rest of their friends. At least not for a while. If Zach was giving her space, he was going to give her plenty. Good.

For a long time, Jenny just sat there, staring at everything in the living room like it was a dream. No, it wasn't. This was reality. This was the ending result of a game. It was strange. So strange and surreal and painful. Jenny had to get up and touch some of the pictures on the wall, or even open some of the doors, just to feel it, just to know.

Eventually she carried herself up the stairs, to her room. It wasn't until she actually placed herself inside and shut the door behind her that everything seemed to catch up with her. The pain, the guilt, it all hit her so fast that she was choking on her sobs, crying harder than a human should ever be able to. She was on the floor, gasping on her own breaths, stuttering so bad that she was dry heaving.

It wasn't fair. To feel this over a Shadow Man-A Shadow Man that loved her-It wasn't fair.

It didn't matter how loud she shouted. It didn't matter how long her sobs lasted. The game was over. There were no consequences now. Just this reality and this pain.

What did matter was what she saw when she looked up.

At first her mind didn't register the items on her bed since she hadn't seen them in years. But as she blinked through the tears and fought through the haze in her mind, the image of the leather-bound books slowly morphed into reality.

Her grandfather's journals. All three of them were just sitting on her bed. One was even open as if she had just dropped them casually after reading them. But they couldn't-They were gone-But-

Jenny forced herself to crawl over to her bed, to wipe away the remaining tears in order to see straight. The journal that was open was the very first one her grandfather had written, on a page that was torn half-way through and some of the ink smudged. There were two words written very largely on the side in that messy old handwriting, underlined very firmly.

 _ **Lumen Dei**_

Jenny had the journal in her hands, standing in the next second, reading the page so fast that she missed some and had to read it again. And when the words got cut off, she flipped to the next page, and the next.

It was just as Zach said, Deities of light-Gods. Her Grandfather had found them on accident, when jumping between dimensions. Or perhaps they had chosen for him to visit them. They very well could have denied his presence or sent him back, or killed him. But they hadn't. They welcomed him. They showed him their strength and they made a deal with him. For him to help them do good in the nine worlds, to bring light where there was darkness. Being a human, he could only do so much. So they assigned him to Shadow Men, the demon he had already discovered and even captured in his basement.

It was like reading a fairy tale, and Jenny was filled with such a childish astonishment, to finally know the rest of the story she had only heard the beginning of back in that basement. To finally know her worth as a Hunter, what it was all for.

The last page was a scribbled mess of the runes he had used when he was jumping around. He even wrote he wasn't sure which one was the correct order-But Jenny didn't care. Reading it, her grandfather's guidance after so long, she felt more like a Hunter than she ever did. And she knew exactly what she had to do.

She ran down the stairs so fast to grab a knife from the kitchen that she actually fell down the last few steps. In the next minute, she was back in her room, carving the markings around the closet door so quickly that she almost messed up-But she didn't. She was diligent and quick, as a Hunter should be.

Jenny didn't have a plan. Really, she was going into this head-first as her grandfather had. Just to find these Gods, to know what truly happened, if Julian really had traded himself for her-

Then what?

Jenny stopped carving.

Even if he was alive, what was she going to do? Ask for him back? He was an enemy, a being of darkness. They weren't just going to bring him back just because she asked nicely. But…But they couldn't fully kill him. Not without carving his name out. Jenny believed that, with all that she was. They still had him. Gods or not-He was still alive.

Then Jenny was going to get him. But how? Well her grandfather always did tell her it was a life for a life.

Then what was a better trade than one Shadow Man?

Jenny canceled out the rune she just carved and went back to her grandfather's journals. She sat down and read through them-And God how good it felt to read through them again, to flip through the old pages and leather clasps-Until she found what she was looking for.

The lure. The bait. How he captured those Shadow Men all those years ago in the basement. What he had never gotten around to teaching Jenny and Zach four years ago. It was complex, a string of runes enchanted by a spell Jenny had never used before. Perhaps it should have scared her, to try this without him, without Zach even, but as Jenny mapped it out, fear was the last thing she felt.

It took a while. Jenny hadn't been paying attention to the time, but eventually she had the markings on her floor, spread out in an arch from the bottom of her closet door. The spell had to be drawn with a line of blood directly through the middle. Jenny was about to do it, but her instincts stopped her.  
She checked the journal one more time, thoroughly, and the found the note that was circled in the corner of the page.

 _Keep the door open_.

Jenny was confused at first, until she read on. It was a bait. You couldn't get the demon inside if the trap was already closed. So Jenny had to wait until it was there, in front of her, before she activated the seal.

It was risky. There was so much time in between the two runes for the Shadow Man to attack or even escape.

But her Grandfather had done it, to more than one. Jenny wasn't going to disappoint him now. So she finished the rune with a skilled precision a Hunter should have, and waited.

For a while she sat on her bed, carving the runes on the kitchen knife, remaking a potion from her Grandfather's journal all over again. But Shadow Men weren't stupid. So Jenny did something stupid.

She went and sat inside the closet. She kept the door open, as instructed, with her blade in hand. The longer she sat there, the more she realized that she wasn't sure what to expect. Julian had been her only Shadow Man. To face another-to try and capture one all on her own….

No, she could do it. She had to.

Jenny must've fell asleep because she woke up to the door slamming shut. The shock had her scrambling to her feet, cursing herself for not putting something in between to prevent such a thing-

She barely got to her knees when the wind hit her right in the chest, knocking her breath away. Immediately, the force was on her throat, invisible but strong, cutting off her air supply before she could even react from the blow. Jenny didn't fight it when it pushed her back, down onto the floor-pinning her there. She didn't even panic.

She marked the spell on her arm without looking, followed by a cut-smear the blood-

The pressure released her immediately. Jenny shouted the moment she was free, " _Dagaz!_ " before she even got her breath back. She felt it, their presence in the tiny space with her-in the shadows around her, so Jenny said the chant-the trap. She dove for the door, shouting an Egyptian rune just to be safe. She shouldn't have gotten through. They should have made her hallucinate something-to mess up-

But Jenny was slamming the door behind her, screaming, " _Nauthiez!_ " The slanted X looked gruesome on her door like that. Jenny reflexively found herself clutching the door handle, so tight her knuckles were white, as if expecting the Shadow Man to come busting back through-to kill her-to mock her for messing up.

But she didn't. She didn't mess up. They weren't coming for her.

But that didn't mean she caught them.

Now the fear settled in Jenny so bad that she found herself sweating. The silence in the room was ruined by the sound of her own blood roaring in her ears. Jenny had to breathe, to gather herself for a moment, before she stepped closer to the door.

She drew the markings slowly, breathed, placed her palm on the door, breathed, hesitated.

The last time she did this scan, her brain had felt like it was melting, the pain from her wound destroying the whole spell. Yet, Jenny knew it wouldn't be the same. Nothing was the same anymore.

So she said the spell, and felt the energy coat everything in her room like echolocation. Luckily nothing showed itself in her room, but in her closet-

Jenny was expecting one mass of dark magic to be in her closet. Well, rather she was _hoping_ that it was there-that she had done it all correctly. But when the spell scanned her closet, she didn't see one single soul in there.

She saw three.

Three distinct blobs of immense power banging around the outlined container of her closet. Three. Three Shadow Men. In her closet.

The shock and relief that that brought to her actually had Jenny laughing. She stumbled away from her closet, so ecstatic that she was grabbing her head, running her fingers through her hair even though they were still covered in blood.

She did it. She actually did it, and she didn't collapse or hurt herself or mess up. And God it felt good.

So good that any exhaustion or doubt she had now were wiped clean. Jenny changed her clothes, drank a whole bottle of water, and after careful thought decided to pack a bag. She wasn't too sure what to expect, or how even long it would take, but her Grandfather had taught her to be prepared for anything. If she was going on a search for some mystical Gods of Light, then only God knew how many times she was going to have to jump before she found them. 

She packed some food, some blades and potions, took her grandfather's journal with her and used her bedroom door to activate the first portal.

He had used a common one, which Jenny realized led to the Fay Realm after she opened the door. It was like the forest Julian had taken her to back in the game, with glorious green life and trees so grand that they covered the sky, and magic in the air. She saw the Fairies just in the distance, their bodies glowing with magic as they danced and control the water from that river-

No distractions. Jenny closed the door behind her and found that she had emerged from one of the bigger trees. The outline of her door was still visible in the bark, with a handle now resting as a knot in the trunk. Jenny figured there would be consequences for trespassing, and if this realm was anything like the one Julian took her to, then there would be more for carving into their tree-damaging their life.

And she didn't want to meet the real Horned God, if he was here.

So she carved the next spell quickly and opened the door with a chant. It creaked like old wood, and the inside of the tree was replaced with fire.

Jenny gasped as the flames leapt out at her and she almost shut the door-But she stopped herself just in time. The fire was already burning the edges of the wooden door, turning it a harsh black.

Jenny didn't wait for the Fay creatures to notice. She opened the door, and jumped through just like back at the hospital four years ago. She rolled off her shoulder, landing on some harsh rock. Jenny snapped a rune behind her, where she heard the door shut. The flames then jumped out at her from the force, making Jenny jump to her feet, away from the flames.

The realm of Hel was definitely as one would think. She currently stood in a rock cavern where flames made up eighty percent of the walls and even bits of the floor. The ceiling above her was all flames, as was the wall she just emerged from. They raged from everywhere, acting like hands that were itching to grab her and pull her in-

Jenny dropped to the ground and immediately scratched a box with her blade. She made it just big enough for her to fit through, then put the blade between her teeth as she marked the runes in her blood. She spat the runes quickly, before she could meet any of the demons that thrived here, and watched the magic consume the shape.

The stone turned to light as the runes around it sparked and hissed-a minute of chaos. The second it settled, Jenny said the line of runes, according to her grandfather's journal, and jumped before she could see what was on the other side.

As a result, the world flipped on Jenny, causing her to hit the ground of some kind of dirt and tumble forward. She finally caught herself by stabbing her blade into the dirt, but her body swung from the momentum, and the upper half of her body now hung over the edge of a cliff.

There was no bottom. An endless sky stretched below her, with clouds so close she could feel the water from them moistening her face. Jenny couldn't hold back the whimper of surprise as she clutched to the edge of whatever surface she was on to prevent from falling down. She carefully pushed herself up, and backed away from the edge.

The cliff she was on was a small ledge, surrounded by a large piece of slate that rose high into the sky behind her. The portal to Hel sat in the middle of the wall, flames licking at the edges. Since she jumped vertically down, she basically shot herself horizontally through this dimension and almost threw herself off a cliff. Now that she was standing, it was impossibly windy. So intense, actually, that Jenny had to grab the slate wall to stabilize herself.

There was a massive grinding noise, like rock against rock that took up all the space in the dimension, and Jenny flinched but had her knife ready, prepared for anything. The sound came from everywhere, scratching on the inside of her ear drums, but for the life of her Jenny couldn't see any enemy.

It wasn't until some of the clouds around her parted and revealed another cliff-face. It was just a few feet away, made of rock and dirt-But this one was moving. It was floating, passing by her so gently as if it was one of the clouds. Then it dropped, slowly lowering itself in the sky, dragging the nearest clouds with it, and Jenny understood.

Off in the distance, simply sitting in the sky, was a floating mountain. Caressed by clouds, drifting without a care in the world. And another one, covered in numerous plant life, with a waterfall that ran off into the sky below it, falling like a rainstorm to whatever lay underneath the sheet of clouds.

It was mesmerizing to watch, to see each mountain pass by her with ease. Another rose up from below Jenny's mountain, a little too close for comfort. Actually it was moving closer-

Jenny braced herself just as the mountain collided with hers, shaking the whole thing so bad that she fell to her knees. The sound echoed through the sky so loud that her ears popped, and the sound seemed to never stop. This mountain was incredibly foggy, barely able to distinguish any edges or ends at all.

And yet, the more Jenny stared, the clearer a shape began to take form. It was odd at first, but as the mountain grinded by, some of the fog faded to reveal a ledge, much similar to the one Jenny stood on.

With a girl on it.

It was a young woman, with long blonde hair, spread out among her back that tousled gently in such a harsh breeze. She was wearing a long white dress, one that pooled in a circle around her feet in the dirt. She was just standing there, with her hands clasped behind her back. She was passing by rather quickly as the mountain moved through the air, and she turned around before Jenny could actually call for her.

It was herself.

Jenny was staring at a copy of herself, standing there so peacefully on that rock. How or why or what the hell it meant was far beyond Jenny's understanding. All she could do was stare at her copy image as if passed by until the mountain was gone.

Jenny made herself leave. She didn't want to figure that out, or read into her grandfather's journal to discover what kind of world she was in. She closed the portal to Hel, and made a new proper sized one beside it.

Jenny kept track of how many portals she went through. She found herself in many news ones as well as many familiar ones. Four times she landed in worlds she had faced more than once back in the closet with Julian. And just as he had brought creatures forth to taunt her, Jenny evaded them now with a skill she was damn proud of. She went through Baltia, a world made entirely of Amber; Laestrygon, a land of Giants; Nysa, The River Styx, and so many more that she didn't know proper names of. The types of creature she encountered were not all harmless, but Jenny didn't stay long enough to discover what they were. In total, she passed through twenty-one portals, before she landed in Jotunhiem.

When Jenny recognized this realm, landing next to a massive chunk of rock with nothing but a vast land of snow ahead of her, she immediately took shelter by the rock to catch her breath. She took the bottle of water from her bag, but the water was beginning to ice over as she drank it. The cold was too intense. She couldn't stay here for very long, but her grandfather's list was scattered now. He even wrote he didn't remember which was which at this point.

How long did he jump for? How many dimensions did he cross through before he found them-He just _landed_ in their territory?

The doubt swelled up in Jenny like the ice in her bottle. She was trying to sort through where to go to next, another random mix of runes or home, without letting the cold numb her common sense, when her journal was ripped from her hands.

It was jerked from her grip too fast to be an accident. It landed smack in the snow, opened, where the wind scattered the pages open wildly. Jenny dove to her knees, trying to pick it up, to stop any pages that were threatening to tear out-but the force knocked her hands away.

The pages continued to turn until it reached the end of the journal where there sat one blank page. There was a flash of light, Jenny blinked, and the words appeared burned into the paper.

 _ **Vultus pro nobis?**_

It was Latin, Jenny recognized, but she couldn't translate it off the top of her head.

Before she could panic, the letters smeared, like ink in water, and dripped down the page. Jenny could only watch in awe as the letters turned to numbers.

Coordinates, her instincts told her.

Jenny picked up the book, fingers numb from the cold, but the adrenaline too much to freeze her there in the snow. She did the calculations in the snow with her blade, having to think for a good minute before she figured it out. The answer didn't seem right when Jenny looked at it, but she knew.

Jenny carved a new portal into the rock. She marked the appropriate runes, doubled check to make sure she did the calculations correct. When she said the rune _Urez,_ to pierce the veil between the worlds, she watched the markings very carefully, to see the power spark and glow like it always did-to where it would lead her.

Only…. Nothing happened.

Jenny stared for a good minute, then looked to the blade in her hand with disappointment. Maybe it was the wrong rune. Maybe-Maybe she wrote it wrong-Or the coordinates-

Jenny didn't give up. She reached for the stone again, to try again, to start over. Yet, the second she touched the rock, the magic burst so intensely that it knocked Jenny back. The force didn't hurt, but Jenny landed on her back in the snow. The portal was glowing so bright, a large square of white light-white energy, not red like it usually was. It reflected off the snow, making the intensity of it hurt her eyes. Jenny couldn't see passed it, what lay beyond the gaping hole of light.

Jenny didn't wait for it to dim or settle. Her instincts had her back on her feet, approaching the square of light with her eyes averted. She reached into the light, passed where the rock had been. Then, with blade still in hand, she carefully stepped through.

It was an odd sensation, one much stronger than any other threshold she crossed. It was tight, as if all the magic and energy in the world was pushing against her, trying to drag her back to where she came from-But Jenny pushed through, one step at a time, blindly, she walked into the light, passed the pressure. Slowly, it began to fade, like a pair of hands losing their grip. It became easier to walk, and Jenny didn't stop.

There was nothing but light. It was impossible to see-No, but she had to. But whenever she opened her eyes the pain had her closing them again, tears running down her cheeks. But jenny didn't stop walking. She didn't stop trying, opening her eyes again and again, to see where she had landed.

She wasn't sure if the light had dimmed or if her eyes had finally gotten used to the brightness, but Jenny was eventually able to hold her eyes open without crying. She blinked endlessly for a while, but after drying away the tears, Jenny fond her in a box of light.

No floor, no ceiling, no walls. Just the massive space of white energy with enough density to express space around her. It was the complete opposite of the box from the closet. Bright, with endless room, and warm. There was a gentleness to this place, something somber and sacred to it that had Jenny walking carefully.

It was while Jenny was staring at her containment that they appeared.

They were hard to identify one from the other, massive bodies of light that burned brighter than the space around them. But Jenny could see the changes in them, just a bit of shadow, a shift in the temperature, even sparks of color. Two bright sights sat in the top of their shapes, for what Jenny could only guess were their eyes. Nothing else was distinguishable except that they were glorious and beautiful and Gods-Yes, that was clear. It was in their presence, in the air around them, that they were powerful beyond any number, intelligence exceeding anything known to man.

Jenny's instincts told her there were numerous of the Gods before her, but her eyes could only distinguish three separate beings floating in front of her.

Jenny didn't know how long she stared for before her common sense kicked her in the rear and she dropped to her knees, bowing humbly out of respect.

Something like a chuckle echoed through the air. Then came the voice, as mystical and soft as magic itself.

"Stand, young Hunter."

It was impossible to tell if there was a gender behind the voice, but its gentle tone sounded more like a woman to Jenny. It had her raising her head, staring at the various bodies to discover which one had spoken.

"I-I'm sorry for intruding, but…I am Jenny Th-"

"Jenny Thornton, granddaughter of Gerald Thornton. Yes, we know who you are."

One of the beings on the side suddenly got brighter and Jenny didn't realize it was closer to her until the lights for its eyes were larger, eyeing her carefully.

"Seems her strength has returned," that one said in a much deeper voice than the first.

"Certe," a third agreed in Latin, much smaller than either before it. "Ut salire per dimensiones vultus pro nobis."

Jenny finally stood, putting her blade away immediately. "Then you were the ones that healed me?" she asked carefully.

"Yes," the first voice spoke. "We accepted the demon's deal to heal you."

The emotions hit Jenny all at once, choking on her own breath.

The second voice spoke before Jenny could. "You've come looking for him. The demon of darkness."

"N-No, I was looking for-"

The Deity was upon her so fast that Jenny blinked and found her completely cloaked in the light. The strength was somehow with it, squeezing around by some invisible force-too strong for jenny to even think of fighting.

"You can't hide things from us, Young Hunter," the second voice said coldly.

Then Jenny felt the touch on her forehead, like the press of heat right between her eyes. The power passed right through her head, cold, fast, then her memories were displayed through the light around them.

If there were walls around them, her memories now moved across them like paintings. Of her and Julian in the closet. Of them fighting in various places. Them kissing wildly in the Shadow Park. Cuddling in the log cabin. All moving through the air in faded, glistening images.

The spell had Jenny completely numb, unable to even turn her head to look at what other memories had been exposed. That was until, the being pulled away from her, replaced by the first one, the gentle one. It touched Jenny in the same place and immediately the memories burned away to the light. Jenny's strength returned to her quickly-too quickly. It left her dizzy, grabbing her head to stabilize herself.

"Nonsense," it said softly. "There is also the… desire. For answers."

It approached closer to Jenny, brightening everything around her, caressing her in the same power, and Jenny did not back down. She held the Being's gaze with all the strength she had left. It was there, staring into the creature's presence, feeling the life and knowledge and power radiating from its glow, that Jenny realized this one was the leader, the Elder.

"Much like Gerald's," the Elder added softly. "You are indeed his successor."

" _Successor proditione_ ," the third voice spat, and judging by the tone it was something that Jenny should be ashamed of.

So Jenny defended herself. "I never meant to disappoint you, or disrespect you. If I have, I sincerely apologize."

The second voice scoffed, but the third merely breathed, like a sigh. It pulled away from her there, relieving Jenny's eyes of the brightness.

"We have been watching you, Young Hunter," the Elder said. "From the very beginning. Your relationship with this Shadow Man…"

"I know," Jenny said slowly, and she chose her words very carefully. "I know Hunters aren't supposed to listen to them-"

" _Vos autem fecistis_ ," the third one snapped in Latin once again.

Jenny turned on the being. "If you have been watching me, then you know that he's not like the others."

"He is indeed the first one to express…affection," the Elder said.

"Does that make up for the destruction he's caused?"

"No, but it makes up for my lack of hunting," Jenny countered without thinking. "My wound prevented me from hunting at my full potential-And he healed me. Because of him-the trade he made-he's saved me and I can return to the work my Grandfather left behind."

This must have gotten their attention because none of them responded to that, not at first. They all surrounded her, covering her in their glow, their power that could easily crush her back to nothing with a single thought-

But they didn't. They waited, listened.

"I know it's wrong," Jenny spoke gently, "and it should have never happened, but it did. He loved me, enough to sacrifice himself to _you_."

"You speak like he is dead," the Elder said softly, and the fear sparked in Jenny so bad-that he could be dead-

"Is he?" the question came out weak, raw. "I-I mean-The Stave. Their names-"

"You think we're not strong enough to-" The second had begun to snap at Jenny until the Elder's light shifted, like raising a hand to him, and he stopped.

"He is barely alive," the Elder answered Jenny without ever breaking her gaze. Then she exposed Jenny in a tone that was like soothing a child. "You care about his life."

Oh, to admit it out loud, to the very Gods she was working for, about their number one enemy, after everything-Jenny couldn't say it, but it was obvious on her face.

The second God snapped again, "How can we trust her to battle all darkness between the dimensions if she gets entranced by every demon she fights?"

Jenny snapped back without hesitating, "I won't fail. Not with Julian by my side."

Those fierce eyes turned on Jenny so fast that the light threatened to bring tears, but Jenny didn't look away.

"What are you trying to propose?" the second voice said slowly, with spite lining the suspicion in his voice.

Jenny turned to face that one directly. Oh, how wrong it was going to say, but there was no other way to say, no denying it. So Jenny just said it. "I want to make a trade for his life."

There was commotion in the light around them and Jenny watched the light that made their environment flicker. If it went out, Jenny feared, she would just drop out of here, back to Jotunheim or Earth, to never talk to them again-

So she added, quickly, "I have captured three Shadow Man in my closet back on Earth. Please, I beg that you take them and return Julian to me."

" _To_ _you_?" the third hissed in broken English.

"Yes, to me. I will keep him under control. If he's with me, then-"

"What makes that a fair trade?" One of them beckoned. "One dark soul for another. The number of demons in the world remains the same-"

"Not just one Shadow Man," Jenny interrupted firmly. "All of them."

She had their attention now, all the light facing her way. She could tell by how brighter it got, making her squint and lower her gaze. The Elder was gazing down at her tightly from such an angle that Jenny had to tilt her head back to meet her gaze.

She spoke firmly, determined. "I don't need to convince you that this Shadow Man and I have a bond. He swore to me, on his soul, on _runes_ , to protect me. No matter what." Jenny had to breathe for a second, but she was continuing with the determination only a true hunter could have. "He _will_ protect me. No matter what I fight-Shadow Man, Korrigans-In any dimensions. Earth, hell. I will keep fighting Shadow Men- _everything_ until I have captured every one, until I restore the balance of light and dark in all the dimensions. And he will keep me alive. I _can't_ lose. Not with him."

The beings had nothing to say to that, not at first. There was a pause where Jenny could tell the atmosphere grew sharper. They didn't believe her, of course.

She went on, "I spent time with this Shadow Man. In a situation that should have never occurred. But it did. Because he chose to save my life instead of ending it. You already saw this; He was-was trapped, sealed down-Powerless for _years_ , and the second he got a chance to escape, he used it to save my life instead. And again, he did it now. He just traded his life to save mine permanently. And I know how stupid it sounds for a Hunter to be bargaining for his life but I have used every rune and spell and trap I know to end this game, and it hasn't." Finally, Jenny felt confident in what she was saying, thus her voice came out stronger, firmer. "Now, I don't know what kind of rules there are in this game between us, but I haven't lost yet. And I don't plan to."

The silence that followed was maddening, but Jenny didn't let it get to her. She stood her ground, staring into what could only be the God's eyes, until finally the air lightened. Just enough, like a weight was removed, and the atmosphere flowed through them again. The laughter came gently, like an honest chuckle, followed by the mumble. "A Shadow Man and his Hunter….Hmm."

The bright light actually made Jenny flinch, cover her eyes. It came from beside the glow of the creatures, much brighter than their essence. Just as Jenny's eyes adjusted, she saw the shape take form, like an outline from a very far distance. Slowly, it formed, manipulated from the light rays until it created colors, and shadows. Jenny knew exactly who it was the second she recognized the shape as a man. From the highlights, Julian appeared with his arms extended at his sides and head bowed low much like a puppet on a string. The light around him slowly began to fade, and finally his body dropped to the ground, limp, silent. It took everything in Jenny not to charge to his side.

"Hear this, young Hunter," the Elder's voice came to her. The being approached her, flowing in glimpses and bursts of light and colors. Jenny felt the radiation of power flowing from her, with the slight remainder of heat coming off her plasmic essence. Still Jenny held her chin high, unmoving, when the demon was mere inches from her face, casting its glow all throughout Jenny's blonde hair. "We do respect your ways," it continued whimsically, "but you best not believe that keeping this one Shadow Man maintained will please us."

Jenny understood, and oh how thankful she was for it. She smiled the best she could, and although it was weary, it was enough. "I can multitask, don't worry."

Some of the highlights in its face seemed to stretch out, much like a smile. It pulled away from her slowly and rejoined back with the others. It wasn't until Jenny saw the shadows creeping on from all around that she realized they were leaving, descending from the hole in the dimensions they came from. They faded back too slowly, much like they were shrinking in their size when Jenny's instincts told her they were actually moving backwards, away from her, in time. Their voices echoed on the way out, "Don't break your promise, girl."

The second they were gone, the _instant_ the shadows filled the space of this room that didn't exist, Jenny broke into a sprint. She dove right to his side, picking up his head, talking too fast to even get out a proper sentence. He was face down, making Jenny pull on his shoulder to lift his head, where his face was pliant, still. He was impossibly pale, even for a man who lived in shadows, and his breathing-

It was this place, her instincts told her. This place is still killing him.

Without hesitating she cut her palm and painted the inverted U on the ground below them. She chanted the spells fast and watched the crimson glow engulf them both. Gravity came sickeningly quick as they dropped through the dimensions, shifting through shadows and light and time-

Then they landed, hard. Jenny felt herself hit the wood of the door first, but she kept her grip on the Shadow Man's shoulders tighter than a vice; So tight in fact that they didn't even break apart when they hit her bedroom floor. It was loud and harsh and uncoordinated but Jenny wasn't thinking about that. She wasn't thinking about how she was now sitting on her bedroom floor with Julian-The Shadow Man that had tried to kill her friends yesterday. She wasn't thinking about how she just convinced the Goddesses of light to spare a Shadow Man's life and brought him to earth and was now cradling his head on her lap, on the verge of tears at the fact that he wasn't waking up-

"You better answer me," she was spouting, tapping his face, praying for those eyelids to open or those lips to move. "You hear me? This game isn't over- if you think you can kill yourself to prevent me from beating you-you-you-" She then reached over and tore at the buttons of his shirt, popping it open aggressively. Maybe if she used the rune dagaz, marked it on his chest somehow, it would reverse the light in his soul, bring the shadows back to life, and he'd be OK.

But before she could even begin to remember what that rune looked like, the hand clamped around hers. It was so slow and yet it happened too fast for Jenny to catch. She gasped.

"If you want me naked," his voice came out in such a rough mumble, as if his throat was sandpaper. "Just ask."

Jenny looked to his face-his pale still-water face, and the euphoria was numbing at the tiniest curve of a smirk on those lips. His eyes were still closed but he was breathing. He was squeezing her hand. Jenny couldn't help but squeeze back, the relief burning her eyes. She didn't fight the tears now, blinking through them as she hovered over his head, watching that tiny smirk on his lips.

"Oh you... _jerk_ ," she finally breathed. "You weren't supposed to sacrifice yourself for me."

But the smile remained. "You should thank me," he practically whispered.

Jenny felt her throat swell up, from tears or a choked laugh she didn't know. "Why would I thank someone like you? You're a jerk."

His eyes opened then, heavy lashes lifting and revealing those pale azure eyes. As glossy and bloodshot as they were, to Jenny they were the best thing she could have ever looked at. Especially when that smile widened, not quite to its full extent, but enough. She did laugh now, the relief and the pain overflowing her chest making her stutter and sob. Her shoulders hunched down, dropping herself until her forehead rested against his. He was still holding her hand, and it was there that Jenny realized exactly how weak this shadow man was, unable to do more than clench his fingers around hers. Otherwise she was sure she'd be in his arms, off the ground, against his lips.

"I hate you," she gasped. "I really, really hate you."

It was astonishing how he had enough strength to laugh, which was more like a small huff of breath. And yet he moved her hand, slowly, weakly. Jenny finished the move for him when she realized what he was doing and rested her hand against his face, feeling the damp and warm skin under her palm-not cool and collected as it should be.

What he said next came out smoothly but rocky enough to throw Jenny off without ever moving. "So you finally believe me."

There were no words for this moment, this game, so Jenny didn't respond. She remained there, holding him.

Jenny didn't know how long they sat like that for, her sobbing, Julian breathing. Nevertheless, the soft scratch against the wood made Jenny's head shoot up, where she saw Zach. He was standing in her doorway, not even five feet away. He didn't look shocked, or even angry. He just looked...content. A bit of relief in those big eyes of his, but he was very pliant, like he understood the image before him. And it was in that look that Jenny realized how impossibly wrong that image was.

Although she sat up, she was still holding Julian's head on her lap, the tears still slipping down her cheeks. She was hiccupping for breath, thoughts racing on some kind of explanation, but they both knew that whatever she could possibly say was going to fail.

The next one to speak, surprisingly, was Julian. Just a mutter, loud enough to be heard. "I win."

Jenny looked to him, confused, as his eyes were closed once again, but it was Zach who answered, softly, his tone flat. "Yeah," he sighed, "I guess you do."

Now Jenny looked to her cousin with a mixture of shock and confusion. "What are you talking about?" She asked. Her gaze dropped back to Julian when his grip loosened on her fingers just slightly, where she repeated the question.

Zach cleared his throat, and answered with his eyes on his feet. "The deal that we made… When you collapsed…That I was to let him trade himself for you and, and I'd take you home after..." He looked up after a moment, to the silent Shadow Man on the floor. "The other half was that if you decided to save him, I wasn't to interfere."

Those stormy gray eyes met hers after, and the realization sank into Jenny like a rock in her gut.

Julian…. knew. He had known she wouldn't have been able to leave him there. He knew she would have tried and rescued him. He knew-Of course he knew. That's why he was the one to leave her the journals. To save him. That explains why Zach left her alone for so long, too...

Again, the words failed Jenny. She could only stare at her cousin, explaining with her eyes. It took a long minute or two, but slowly Zach read the desperation in her eyes and he heaved a heavy sigh. He grabbed the doorway as if to leave, but stopped amid his turn.

"I'll, uh…. I'll talk to Tom."

Oh.

Jenny knew she should feel ashamed for completely forgetting about Tom, but she knew it was inevitable. There hadn't been any other result from this game. She had done all the wrong things; she was a terrible girlfriend, but if she had gotten the chance to go back, she knew, guilty, that she would have done it all exactly the same. And that wasn't Tom's fault. It wasn't Zach's or even Julian's. If it wasn't entirely Jenny's, at least half of it belonged to fate, itself.

When Jenny realized this, she felt the emotions pass over her face and quickly die. Numbly, she gave him a nod. "Thank you," she practically whispered.

Zach could only nod back. He gave the unconscious Shadow Man one last glance, then disappeared down the hall. Jenny settled into the silence that followed, feeling the hollowness carve her out from the inside out-then be replaced. It didn't hurt anymore. No, a new weight took the place of the emptiness. Something stronger. Warmer.

Julian's hand slipped from hers, and fell limp to the floor. His eyes were closed again, breathing shallower. But Jenny didn't let herself panic. She carefully removed Julian's head from her lap, then ran back to her closet, where the two circles of runes still sat carved around the door. With the blood still from her palm, she coated each rune once again, staining over the dried dark brown from before. She said them fast, accurately, and while they began to spin, activating the portal, she moved and got Julian. She grabbed him from under the arms, and waited until the commotion stopped before she dragged him over. Her lower back argued, but Jenny ignored it as she kicked her closet door open, revealing the vast black space.

She didn't wait for her eyes to adjust, or to see if anything was waiting for them in the thick mist that slowly began to roll into her room. She hauled Julian through as fast as she could without tripping, and she didn't. It was the ground that gave out on her, disappearing in a flash, and together they dropped.

Jenny wasn't afraid when she woke up. Maybe she should have been. A part of her was already alive, alert, ready for anything, but Jenny actually ignored it. She allowed herself to remain there, feeling herself lying on something soft, comfortable. There was a light breeze here, and the scent of something sweet flowing in it. It was nice. Familiar.

So Jenny opened her eyes, and saw the patch of daisies in front of her face. The field stretched on ahead of her, highlighted by random patches of the flowers, structured by rows of trees here and there. Ah, yes. Jenny knew this forest. She remembered chasing the Amaruk through here. She remembered playing with Julian here, being given these exact same flowers by that demon at some point. The last time Jenny was here, it was the first time Julian had tried to kiss her. Right before she passed out.

She stared at the view for a minute, the way the sunlight danced between the treetops above her, enjoying the breeze in her hair, as it ran through her roots in a touch as soft as gauze, much like-

Jenny turned her head to prove her instincts correct. Julian was there, lying exactly as she was, on his back, head turned in the luscious grass to gaze upon her. He didn't look injured anymore, the color back in his face. In fact, those sapphire eyes were the brightest Jenny had ever seen them. He had his fingers in her hair, grazing her roots with the faintest brush of his fingertips. It was such a cautious touch, as if he'd apply any pressure at all that she truly would shatter under his touch. When she had looked at him, his fingers then moved to her bangs, brushing them out of her face slower than time.

Seeing him like this, from so close, struck a moment of panic in Jenny, but it quickly died at that smile he gave her. Not haughty. Not wild nor playful. Just...soft. There, content. Jenny smiled back.

She didn't even bother moving. Not when he continued to gaze at her like that. She laid there, letting his fingers run down her hair, to her cheek, her chin. His fingers finally curled away from hers, in such a slow movement that it was almost painful. Jenny saw it, and she knew he was waiting for her.

Oh, but of all the things to say.

Jenny kept her tone steady, level. "I'm not apologizing."

She didn't have to clarify. He knew what she meant-about the last time they were this close, what she had done. And that's what surfaced the usual wolf-hungry smile from him. It pulled on his lips slowly, stretching from ear to ear, entirely amused. Jenny didn't let her smile fall either. It was a feeling that didn't have a name, but if anything came close, it had to be satisfaction.

Her gaze caught on his hand again when it landed in the grass between them. Palm up, Jenny could easily see the faint reminder of the scar-of when he grabbed the knife from her hand, when she couldn't kill him. She was grabbing his hand now without realizing, silently sliding her fingers into his, tracing the hidden mark with the scars of her own. So different and yet so alike….

"The game's not over, you know," Julian finally spoke, his voice smooth and elemental, like water over rocks. Jenny met his gaze again, where he was burying himself inside those deep cypress eyes. "Every day, from now on, I will take you. Anywhere, at any time, and I won't release you until you beat my games."

That took a minute to process, and when it did, this unnamed feeling-her smile-didn't falter. If anything, it intensified. Knowing she was stuck with him, going to see him every day, to be by his side solely once again….

"You have to share me," she voiced the thought aloud.

That's when Julian gripped her hand, completing on interlocking their fingers. Then he moved so fast that Jenny missed it, distracted by their hands, their touching scars. In the next moment, he was over her, bodies touching but not touching. He gazed down at her, still with that awfully playful smirk, with the glimmering green treetops as his background.

"If you didn't need a healthy balance between the dimensions," he said quickly, fluidly like a viper spitting its venom, "then I wouldn't have to."

Jenny actually laughed. "You have to behave yourself, you know," she chided. "You were a very expensive trade."

"I'll have to repay you in _full_ then, won't I?" he asked back with such a luscious look in his eye. "In our never-ending game."

"And what will become of our game," she asked, "once you run out of ideas?"

Julian could merely gaze at her for a moment, as if taking in her cleverness, her strength, her beauty, and again that content smile came over his lips. "An interesting one, I suppose."

Jenny moved before he could, grabbing him by the back of the head and yanking him down. Their lips met perfectly, and with it, everything in all the nine worlds was finally balanced.

 **OMG FINALLY. I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT. I'll spare the boring details but basically everything went wrong these past few months and then I was filming a movie for work and graduating college and kjdhmfdiljsdfkuhvdilhsdvijlsdlkskx. I struggled a lot with this final chapter and I really really hope I didn't disappoint you guys. As a reward, I have an extra chapter for you guys! Which I will be updating ASAP (swearsies)**

 **I know this chapter might not be perfect so if you guys have any suggestions on how to improve it please let me know through review or PM. I mainly struggled with the beginning and felt like I was skipping over a lot of things in the story so that's what took me so long DX**

 **Anyway I hope you guys had a Happy New Year!**

 **Until my next update!**

 **ZVA**


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